Innovative Japan, Global Japan: Japan's premier AI Lab, Matsuo-ken
Kenji Kushida
We were delighted to host members of Matsuo-ken on their trip to Silicon Valley, with big thanks to Baba-san, Mitsubishi Corp's Silicon Valley Branch Manager and leader of its very interesting M-Lab in downtown Palo Alto.
Matsuo-ken (Matsuo Institute, Inc) is a spinout from Professor Matsuo's University of Tokyo Lab that is a leader in Japan's AI scene, having spun out over 19 startups by his count. Professor Matsuo himself is everywhere all at once these days, and he's the Japanese government's key person on various committees driving Japan's AI policy.
These young engineers and scientists haven't really had a chance to visit abroad during Japan's long pandemic de facto lockdown, so although their trip is short, I hope it's thoroughly transformative to some of them. Their enthusiasm was such that our evening chat and networking session after our presentations went way past our scheduled time.
In the pre-pandemic era, I was a little concerned that there were too many groups coming through, but after the pandemic shutdown, I'm much more concerned that not enough people are venturing outside Japan and getting stimulated and motivated to do new and exciting things at a global scale. (A star Japanese student in my class at Stanford last spring had participated on a short trip to Silicon Valley when in high school, which had transformed his worldview and he applied to, and became an undergraduate at Stanford -- these short trips can sometimes really have an impact on people.)
I'm looking forward to the impact that many of these emerging stars will have on Japan's AI scene and startup ecosystem.
