Leading the development of the algae industry for more than a decade, I realized the limitations of working as a single entity and devised a more holistic approach.

The key was to gain the involvement and commitment of multiple firms. We literally visited numerous companies, knocking on their doors to persuade the industry leaders to work together, negotiated with the government that “this is an initiative that should be tackled as a nation” and established an industry-wide project involving notable firms in Japan.

Thanks to the support from many of the people involved, we have been able to steadily grow this grand initiative. It can proudly be said that we are at the forefront of the world in this industry.

However, in creating this initiative, we have come to realize that there are three things missing in order to realize our grand goal of launching a full-fledged algae industry;

• Creating a roadmap with clear objectives with organizations committed to implementing the initiative, rather than to just write a roadmap that consolidates the opinions of various firms.
• Developing the industry structure on a large scale from the initial phase, rather than gradually expanding from, "High value-added products or focusing on cascade usage."
• Gathering business members committed to "the development of the algae industry," rather than gathering only researchers to collaborate on research and development.

MATSURI was launched to rapidly promote these three things all at once.

Together with the member companies, we will launch the algae industry with determination and passion. As we take on the world's first major mission to "establish the algae industry" and spread our passion like an undulating wave among all industries, we expect more and more supporters to join the MATSURI project to become the catalyst in the rapid development of our vision.

We are confident of our success, and am looking forward to the upcoming festivities (=“MATSURI” in Japanese).

Around the year 1870, gasoline was discarded as industrial waste.

While success in oil mining led to a significant increase in crude oil production from only 2,000 barrels in 1859 to 4,215,000 barrels in 1869, the usage was limited only to light lamps.

However, the situation drastically changed with the invention and development of internal combustion engines. As the usage of internal combustion engines expanded, oil production and consumption were exponentially increased in the 1900s. In 1929, annual crude and refined oil production increased to about 1 billion barrels, or about 500,000 times that of 1859.

With these changes, Standard Oil thrived. This is said to be because they had taken full advantage of the rapid increase in demand by integrating and monopolizing from upstream to downstream, namely, the oil collection pipelines, railway (transport), and refinery. The company also developed more than 300 petroleum products, including Vaseline and chewing gum. In other words, what they had done were (1) develop various applications and markets, (2) reduce costs by integrating and monopolizing processes, and (3) secure profits by establishing barriers to entry for emerging competitors.

Take this idea and replace crude oil with microalgae. Currently, the annual production of microalgae is about 20,000 tons worldwide, and it is only used for supplements and cosmetics. Imagine what would happen if this primary production technology of microalgae, which is the most efficient in the history of humankind, is (1) taken to scale, (2) applications fit for mass consumption are developed and established, and (3) the supply chain established. Just imagine what the world would look like when all this comes true.

Whether you dismiss this as a delusion or step forward and engage in it with us – it’s up to you.

Join in the excitement. Join our Matsuri to create a spectacular future for all.