iU — Professional University of Information and Management for Innovation

iU UniversityVisiting ProfessorActivity Record

An archive that reweaves the journey — from industry-academia collaboration and community building to decentralized cloud and Roblox × AI education — into a year-by-year timeline and profile.

2021 - 2025 Markdown Source Image Archive

Profile / Visiting Professor

Sho T (Sho Takahashi)

Visiting Professor, iU (Professional University of Information and Management for Innovation)

ICP Japan Co-Founder
DFINITY Foundation Certified Evangelist
Founder of the industry-academia research project C3F
Representative Director, AI&NoCoders Japan Association
CINO, Pressman Co., Ltd.
Futurist

Identity: Futurist

Starting from a Futurist community launched in 2021 with people from diverse fields, including iU's first-year students, he realized the “Metaverse Culture Festival,” where art and technology intersect. He then founded the industry-academia research project C3F and led research on Web3 and the decentralized cloud ICP. After establishing an official partnership with the DFINITY Foundation in Switzerland, he founded ICP Japan in 2024, leading to co-creation with more than 20 companies and a joint press release with Dentsu Soken. He has also developed a next-generation STEM education project using Roblox × AI. His work brings visions of the future closer to implementation in education, research, and industry. (See the activity history below.)

Activity Timeline

Activities by Year

2021 - 2025

2025

2025 Summary

2025 was the year ICP Japan's activities went into full swing as an extension of the industry-academia research project C3F. Beyond Tokyo, the community expanded across Japan — Osaka, Kyoto, Saga, Fukuoka, and more — bringing places to learn and practice decentralized cloud and Web3 to each region. In April, the “ICP Hackathon 2025,” with total prize money of more than 2 million yen, produced many development projects, some of which grew into a VCs (Verifiable Credentials) project at Dentsu Soken. In October 2025, a joint press release with Dentsu Soken on the VCs project shared the social implementation of research results publicly. In addition, as part of new-industry creation, the results of a STEM education project for children using the Metaverse (Roblox) were presented: at an event of the NoCoders Japan Association, a no-code advocacy organization, students themselves presented their project results, demonstrating practical outcomes spanning education, industry, and talent development.

ICP Japan / Alliance Activities of the Industry-Academia Co-Creation Project C3F

October 2025: Press release: Dentsu Soken and ICP present the future of digital credentials (VCs) as a foundation of social trust
June 2025: Held “Truth to Earn: A New Economic Sphere Created by Authenticity”
April 2025: ICP Hackathon 2025 awards ceremony
March 2025: Held a session on sovereign AI / sovereign cloud [Web3 × AI]
March–June 2025: ICP / Web3 meetups in Osaka, Kyoto, Saga, and Fukuoka
February 2025: Held a session on deploying ICP sample canisters (smart contracts)
February 2025: Held an ICP / Web3 ideation session (iU Takeshiba Campus)

NoCoders Japan Association (Presentation by Pressman × Abekawa Seminar)

January 2025: New-industry co-creation project: LT presentation of the AI & Roblox project by students of iU

References

ICP Japan: https://www.icp-japan.org/ (see the activity history page)
NoCoders Japan Association: https://no-coders-japan.org/column/34
Industry-academia research project C3F: https://www.c3f-iu-university.com/ (see the activity history page)
BLab project: https://blaboratory.org/project/c3f/
Roblox new-industry scheme: https://nocodo.net/media/page/2/
Metaverse Children's Nation: https://nocodo.net/kodomo-metaverse/

2024

2024 Summary

In 2024, activities expanded along several axes. First, the industry-academia research project C3F partnered with the DFINITY Foundation in Switzerland and raised its international presence, including sponsoring an official Web3 exhibition. In July, through a partnership with the Web3 consulting company Pacific Meta, ICP Japan — certified by the DFINITY Foundation — was founded as an organization to spread the decentralized cloud / Internet Computer Protocol in Japan. This led to co-creation partnerships with more than 20 companies, and to continuously creating and gathering global cases and development cases from Japan. Meanwhile, from April, a project to create new industries using the Metaverse (Roblox) and AI began in collaboration with the Abekawa Seminar. iU's fourth-year cohort also took part: through classes for children at SIC, an innovation facility in Sumida City, and collaboration with a company in Yamagata, iU students served as instructors in an educational program for elementary and junior high school students to become metaverse creators. This tackled new job creation alongside industry creation, and the results were presented at “Chomoro” in October 2024.

ICP Japan / Alliance Activities of the Industry-Academia Co-Creation Project C3F

December 2024: Held “The Authentication Revolution in the Web3 Era: Internet Identity”
December 2024: Held “Bitfinity: Bitcoin and EVM on ICP”
December 2024: Held “ICPHubs Global Town Hall (Japanese)”
November 2024: Held “Startups / Web3 Stakeholders × ICP”
November 2024: Held “What Is ICP? — Decentralized Cloud and the Internet of Value”
November 2024: Held “Vly.money: Send Money and Tips from Social Media”
October 2024: Held “ICP × Ethereum (EVM-Compatible Multichain)”
September 2024: ICP Japan co-creation partnerships with “more than 20 companies”
September 2024: Held “DID / VCs (Verifiable Credentials) and ICP”
August 2024: Held “ICP Japan Student Leadership”
July 2024: Held the “ICP Japan Launch Event”

Activities of the Industry-Academia Co-Creation Project C3F

May 2024: Exhibited the book “Introduction to the Internet Computer” at Gijutsushoten 16
May 2024: Launched the official ICP Japan website
April 2024: Exhibited a booth as a DFINITY sponsor at TEAMZ

Pressman × Abekawa Seminar (Roblox × AI Project)

October 2024: Presented results at Chomoro (Roblox × AI project)
August 2024: Co-hosted “Become a Metaverse Creator in One Day!” with Mecom Digital Kids in Yamagata
June 2024: Roblox creator training launched: recruiting Roblox creator candidates, aiming for skill acquisition and job creation toward social participation
April 2024: Nearly 50 parents and children took part: following the Sumida Metaverse Children's Nation, “Inquiry and Digital Citizenship with Roblox”
April 2024: Event at iU: “Let's Try Roblox (the Metaverse)!” — open to university and high school students, held at the iU campus in Sumida City
April 2024: University collaboration: students join Metaverse Roblox “new-industry creation” projects (exploring new technology), toward a scheme that leads to jobs

References

ICP Japan: https://www.icp-japan.org/ (see the activity history page)
Industry-academia research project C3F: https://www.c3f-iu-university.com/ (see the activity history page)
BLab project: https://blaboratory.org/project/c3f/
Roblox new-industry scheme: https://nocodo.net/media/page/2/
Metaverse Children's Nation: https://nocodo.net/kodomo-metaverse/

2023

2023 Summary

2023 was the year the industry-academia research project C3F got fully underway. In January, an official iU press release announced the launch of a development and research PoC for a decentralized cloud based on the Internet Computer (ICP). This became the trigger for building an open developer community that involved developers inside and outside the university; as a result, it grew into a community of more than 300 developers. Within the community, research results were presented and technical discussions held, and several practical projects such as the “Gijutsushoten project” were launched to share knowledge and create output. These efforts were also presented to overseas audiences, gaining recognition from the DFINITY Foundation, which promotes the decentralized cloud ICP, and discussions toward an official partnership began. iU students took an active part in this series of activities, gaining experience at the frontline of international technology research and social implementation.

Activities of the Industry-Academia Co-Creation Project C3F

December 2023: Launched the Gijutsushoten project
August 2023: Hosted ICP Meetup Japan
June 2023: Japanese localization of BootCamp, and live streams of research presentations
From May 2023: Relaunched the ICP developer community (first-round recruitment)
From February 2023: Held monthly developer meetups
January 2023: Press release: launched a Web3.0 development PoC using the next-generation decentralized cloud “Internet Computer” in iU's industry-academia research project C3F

References

Industry-academia research project C3F: https://www.c3f-iu-university.com/ (see the activity history page)
BLab project: https://blaboratory.org/project/c3f/
Presentation for overseas audiences: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GHFa8UmgzD4adkESVnnTORD6uhML5iZqViBSNgEbCQQ/edit?usp=sharing
Presentation on activities in Japan: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sPL0xUNdFLVWQ2iGFao1nWI_dQwfwU-kw-gwB_LsaZY/edit?usp=sharing

2022

2022 Summary

In 2022, together with iU's first- and second-year students, he launched the industry-academia research project C3F. The project was positioned as one of the official projects of BLab (a lab linked with 100 universities and research institutes worldwide), and with this he was officially appointed Visiting Professor. In August of the same year, alliances with several companies were built around C3F and the 1st Meetup was held, creating a place for practical research and co-creation linking the university and companies. After that, Web3 research and related events continued, and research activities on cutting-edge technologies and new business models began in earnest. It was a year that laid the foundation for industry-academia collaboration connecting education and society.

Activities of the Industry-Academia Co-Creation Project C3F

October 2022: Cutting-edge study session on IC's “Web3.0 use cases”
September 2022: Study session on NFID (decentralized integrated ID), which connects Web2 and Web3
August 2022: Held the 1st Meetup (Internet Computer / DFINITY)
August 2022: Built alliances with sundred Inc. and IX Knowledge Inc.
August 2022: Launched an IC research summary site
July 2022: C3F community started

References

Industry-academia research project C3F: https://www.c3f-iu-university.com/ (see the activity history page)
BLab project: https://blaboratory.org/project/c3f/ / https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000147.000061260.html

2021

2021 Summary

Together with iU's first-year students, he formed a learning and practice community built around Futurizm and backcasting, looking ahead to “the future 10 to 100 years from now, beyond today's needs.” Many cross-disciplinary projects were carried out — from SF prototyping to space (a visit to the Japan Space Elevator Association) and Web3 — culminating in a Metaverse Culture Festival and the creation of a metaverse art museum. In addition to collaborating with well-known (illustration) artists, it connected with the real economy by signing advertising contracts with 14 companies. It also co-created a case in which the whole event was streamed in partnership with GadgeTanker, a streaming company founded by first-year students — creating a practical innovation case spanning education, technology, art, and business.

Co-Creation of a Metaverse Project with the iU-Born Venture GadgeTanker

October 2021: Streaming partnership with the iU-born venture GadgeTanker at the Metaverse Culture Festival hosted by us (GadgeTanker's first streaming use case)
October 2021: Held the Metaverse Culture Festival [October 10, 2021]
September 2021: Created a metaverse art museum [in collaboration with well-known artists / 120 works exhibited]
September 2021: Metaverse advertising contracts [with 14 companies]

Creating a Futurist Culture (Community) [2021–]

From August 2021: Projects across generations and sectors, such as SF prototyping experiments, a visit to the Japan Space Elevator Association, Web3.0 study groups, and opportunities connecting junior/senior high school students with innovators
July 2021: Together with members from different industries and iU's first-year students, formed a community to create a culture that looks not only at today's Needs but also at the Seeds of the future, backcasting from the future 10 to 100 years ahead