Regional Economy Blue Farm raises $2m Series A to put tea fields on a sustainable footing
Shizuoka tea startup Blue Farm raises $2m Series A to take its MatchaaS production model overseas, as Japan's tea-growing area keeps shrinking.
Regional Economy 
Technology AOI Biosciences raises $3m to pursue allosteric drug discovery
AOI Biosciences has raised $3m to expand its β2GPI neoself antibody test for recurrent pregnancy loss and to advance allosteric drug discovery using Toshiba's SQBM+.
Technology Generative-AI phone-service provider nocall raises $5m in series A
Tokyo's nocall has raised $5m in a series A to expand nocall.ai, its generative-AI phone service, as it tackles the technical hurdles of natural Japanese conversation.
Technology Albatross Technology, developer of vertical-axis turbines for floating offshore wind, raises $1.6 million
Albatross Technology, a Tokyo startup developing floating offshore wind turbines, has raised $1.6 million in a pre-Series B round to advance a large-scale offshore test unit in Nagasaki.
Technology Single-seat EV maker KG Motors raises $2.9m
KG Motors, the maker of the single-seat mibot EV, has raised $2.9m in equity funding to scale up production, following a proof-of-concept trial with the Chugoku Bank.
Technology Biotech startup WAKU takes pre-Series A total to $3m
WAKU, a Japanese agri-biotech startup, has raised $3m in pre-Series A funding and revealed fission yeast as a second core technology alongside its glutathione biostimulant, WAKUFUL.
Regional Economy Lotte and Nomura Real Estate to open a live music venue in Shin-Osaka in 2028
Lotte and Nomura Real Estate will open a 1,590-capacity live music venue, BEAT PARK OSAKA, near Shin-Osaka station in 2028.
Technology Power Laser Technology raises $7.5m to put high-power lasers to work
Osaka University spin-out Power Laser Technology has raised around $7.5m to develop power lasers for space-debris tracking and laser-fusion power generation.
Series Vol. 24 | A Prehistory of Jodo Buddhism, Part 3
Part 3 of a prehistory of Jodo Buddhism: Ennin's pilgrimage to China, the origins of Other Power, and the roots of the faith later held by the Ohmi Shonin.
Technology Thermal power generation startup elleThermo raises $5m in Series A
elleThermo, developer of a heat-to-electricity semiconductor-sensitised thermal cell, has raised ¥830m ($5m) in a Series A led by Spiral Innovation Partners.