VOCALOID Crypton Future Media 30th Anniversary: special interview

[MagicalMiku]

Crypton Future Media 30th Anniversary: special interview

(translated from the original interview in japanese, available here:)
https://www.wantedly.com/companies/crypton/post_articles/992716

Today, July 21st, 2025, marks the 30th anniversary of Crypton Future Media's founding!
To commemorate this, our CEO Ito's book "The Future of Creation: How Hatsune Miku Was Born in Hokkaido" (published by Chuokoron-Shinsha) will be released on July 23, 2025. We hope that the book will provide you with a glimpse into Ito's life, thoughts, and hopes for the future.

Also, starting today, as part of the 30th anniversary of the founding of Crypton Future Media, Wantedly will be running a special series of articles (6 articles in total) looking back on the company's 30-year history together with our company president, Ito. We hope to introduce our company's business once again, focusing on the topics that could not be packed into "The Future of Creation." If you are interested, please stay with us until the final installment.

[30th Special Episode.1 PART1] The History of Crypton
The first theme is "The History of Crypton." Hatsuyama, who has been with the company for 20 years and knows the transition of the office from the back office, and Nishio, who was involved in the launch of the character licensing business, will also be joining us. Together with Ito, they will talk about the time when Crypton was founded and the history of the office.

From left to right: Hatsuyama, Ito, and Nishio
Hiroyuki Ito : CEO of Crypton Future Media, Inc. After working at Hokkaido University, he founded Crypton Future Media, Inc. in Sapporo in July 1995. He is currently working on developing services and technologies inspired by sound, such as DTM software, music distribution aggregators, and 3DCG technology. He was awarded the Blue Ribbon Medal in 2013.

Fumiko Hatsuyama : Joined the company in 2005. Manager of the administrative team that handles accounting, recruitment, human resources, labor, general affairs, public relations, accounting, and other company-wide administrative matters. She has supported the company as a back office worker for 20 years.

Nishio Kimitaka : Joined the company in 2007. After launching and expanding the character licensing business for "Hatsune Miku", he is now a manager in the President's Office. In addition to developing existing businesses, he is also involved in developing new businesses that incorporate new technologies such as AI, aiming to expand creative opportunities and fields for creators.

The company I started at age 30 is now 30!

--First, let me ask you about President Ito.
Our company will celebrate its 30th anniversary in July this year, and you turned 60 in March this year, so does that mean you started your company at the age of 30?

Ito : Yes. The company I started when I was 30 has now turned 30. When I think about it, the 30th anniversary feels even more meaningful.
This year, I received a surprise cake and bouquet of flowers from all the employees on my birthday.

For April Fool's Day, we prepared something called the "Ito Hiroyuki Kanreki Pack," which imitates our company's product, the "Piapro Characters Super Pack."
The company's founding anniversary is July 21st, but I already feel like this year is more special than any other year before.

- I understand that you got a job after graduating from high school and worked as an employee at Hokkaido University before starting your own company. Could you please tell us again how you ended up starting your own company?

Ito : I was born in Shibecha, a rural town in Hokkaido where there are more cows than people. In those days, it was very common to get a job after graduating from high school, and I became a civil servant after graduating from high school. I was assigned to the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University.

When I started working, the Internet had not yet spread to ordinary households, but it was introduced to universities early on. I was able to use it as part of my job. Now that the Internet and smartphones are commonplace, it may not seem like a big deal, but back then there were no mobile phones, and it took more than a month to exchange letters with friends overseas. That's why I was so shocked by the Internet, which allows data to be exchanged instantly regardless of the actual distance. It was so interesting to imagine what I could do if the Internet became widespread. I thought that turning the ideas I had into reality would be much more interesting than continuing to work as a civil servant, so I decided to start a business.

-So your vision of the potential of the Internet was what prompted you to start your own company. Our company was established as a "sound trading company," but where did the idea of making sound into a business come from?

Ito : Yes. The reason I felt the various possibilities of the Internet was largely due to the influence of futurist Alvin Toffler, but I'll leave that out for now as I talk about that in "The Future of Creation." I've always loved music, and after I started working, I got into sound sampling (recording sounds and importing them as sound material data). At the time, I think I had 2,000 to 3,000 floppy disks with various sounds on them in my apartment.

Since I had made so many, I wanted to have many people listen to the sounds I made. I started exchanging sound materials with people overseas using the personal ads section of the American music magazines I read at the time.
When I received an inquiry through a personal ad, I would first send my own catalog by mail or fax. When I received an order, I would save the sound material on a floppy disk and mail it. As the number of such exchanges increased, and due to changes in the exchange rate, I started importing overseas sound sources and software and selling them domestically.

These hobby activities became the foundation of my business, and I founded Crypton as a "sound trading company" that imports and sells overseas sound sources and software.
I thought that if I combined my love of "sound" with the Internet, I could do a lot of things. When I founded the company, I was still selling software packages by mail, but even before I started the company, I was convinced that one day I would be able to sell "sound" downloads over the Internet.

--Now that I think about it, there's a story that says "Crypton is Sapporo's first internet company." Is there an anecdote that supports this?

Ito : Ah, it was when we submitted our articles of incorporation. When you set up a company, you have to submit articles of incorporation (documents that outline the company's fundamental principles) to a notary public, but when I wrote "Internet-related business" on it and submitted it, it was rejected. The reason was, "What is the Internet?" "Internet is not a common word, so it cannot be recognized." I explained from the very beginning what the Internet is, and finally they accepted it.

Because of that, I believe we are the first company in Hokkaido to advertise ourselves as an "Internet-related business."

 

[MagicalMiku]

[30th Special Episode.1 PART2] The History of Crypton

(translated from the original interview in japanese, available here:)
https://www.wantedly.com/companies/crypton/post_articles/992716

The current office is our fourth location! The history of CFM offices!
-From here, I would like to ask Mr. Hatsuyama and Mr. Nishio to join the conversation and look back on our company's 30 years.
In the book "The Future of Creation," there is a chapter that talks about our company's business in chronological order, but there is no mention of the relocation of our office. So, here I would like to delve deeper into the "history of our office" rather than the details of our business.
In our Wantedly story, we often introduce the state of the company's office, but this was not the office when we first started, right?

Ito : Yes, that's right. When we first started, we only had about five employees, and we chose the location of our office with little consideration given to visitors or convenience of transportation. The only thing we were particular about was that it had to be in Sapporo city. However, we wanted to move quickly, so we moved our office three years after we started.

Hatsuyama : I hadn't joined the company yet, but I remember that there was an office where "strange phenomena" would occur if you were working overtime in the middle of the night...

Ito : That's right. There was a straight corridor in front of the entrance to that office, but there were several times when the visitor buzzer would ring and I would open the door to find no one there... it was just a "strange phenomenon," you know? (laughs)

-It's probably best not to delve any further into the story of the first office (laughs). Hatsuyama-san, you joined the company on its 10th anniversary, but what was the office like at that time?

Hatsuyama : When I joined the company in 2005, we were still using the office that we had moved to in 1998. Just like the current office, it was in a place that could be reached by subway in Sapporo, so I had no trouble commuting. Since the number of employees was still small, the president himself taught me about the work after I joined the company, and I remember that the place was under the blue sky, which was also a change of pace.

We had about 20 people using an office of about 70 tsubo (in Japan, is common to use "tsubo", which is the area of two tatami mats, to calculate a building's area), and when the singing voice synthesis software "VOCALOID2 Hatsune Miku" released in 2007 became an unexpected hit, all the employees came together to pack and ship the packages. At that time, the members at the time were the ones who put each disc into a package and shipped it to customers. Nishio-san, you worked with us, right?

Nishio : Yes, I did. I joined the company about two days after the release of "VOCALOID2 Hatsune Miku", so that was my first job. I had just said "Nice to meet you" to Mr. Sasaki (= Wataru Sasaki, in charge of Hatsune Miku development), and we were talking about our backgrounds as we put the CD-ROM into the case (laughs).

- When the first Hatsune Miku software was released in 2007, this was still your second office. For those who were there at the time, this office must hold many memories.

Hatsuyama : Yes. At least, I have the impression that it was a place where our company experienced a major turning point.
Nishio-san was directly involved in the work of "Hatsune Miku", so I wonder if there are many things that left an impression on you?

Nishio : Yes. While I was busy with the packing work, the derivative works of "Hatsune Miku" spread rapidly on the Internet, and the number of inquiries to our company increased dramatically. Then one day, Sasaki-san said, "Nishio-san, can you help me?", and I also became fully involved in the work related to "Hatsune Miku". From then on, it was turbulent.

Ito : Just because the work related to "Hatsune Miku" suddenly increased, it doesn't mean that other work decreased. On some days, we received more than 100 inquiries, and after finishing the daily work of other work, we held a meeting to discuss how to handle the inquiries about "Hatsune Miku". Since I had never dealt with characters before, I had a hard time answering them.

Nishio : We printed out the inquiries and had meetings almost every day at around 10 or 11 p.m., asking, "President, do you want to do it?"

Ito : That brings back memories. As the amount of work increased, we decided to hire more employees. However, as the number of people increased, the office became cramped and it became difficult to find a place to hold meetings... so we started looking for a new office again.

Hatsuyama : The number of employees increased so suddenly that we ran out of chairs for employees before we even decided on a new office, right?

Nishio : That's right! About a month before we moved, several of us, including me, were using metal chairs (laughs). I remember it was very hot because the place was exposed to the setting sun.

- That's true (laughs) So the office you moved to in 2008 is the one you're in now?

Ito : No, we moved to our current office in 2012. The previous office was about 450 square meters, but it became too small when the number of employees exceeded 50. I think we decided to move to our current office when we had about 70 employees. We have always been in Sapporo since the company was founded, but we have moved three times, and our current office is the fourth. The number of employees has recently exceeded 150.

Hatsuyama : It was from our third office that each desk was separated by a partition and we were able to have our own space. I think the convenience and ease of working have been getting better and better with the office move. Our current office also has a cafe space, and when I see it bustling at lunchtime, I feel that it has become a good office environment.

Nishio : It's interesting to see each desk and get a glimpse of each person's personality. Some people have their favorite character goods lined up everywhere, while others have no goods and just an aroma diffuser. It's nice to be able to work in an environment where I can relax.

- I also have a lot of decorations on my desk (laughs). Aside from your desk and the cafe space, has anything else changed?

Hatsuyama : The atmosphere at the entrance has changed quite a bit. In the past, many users and fans would come to our office to visit, and for a while after we moved to our current office, we had a whiteboard and notebook at the entrance where visitors could freely write illustrations and text.

Ito : To be honest, I still want to have them there. Now, more people want to visit our office, and it has become difficult to welcome all of them equally, so we have removed them from the office entrance. Also, since it is an office building where various companies gather, there are security issues. Instead , we now have a permanent "Piapro Wall (a board where you can freely write illustrations and text)" in front of the "Snow Miku Sky Town" store , which is directly managed at New Chitose Airport, the gateway to Hokkaido's skies . If you come to Hokkaido, we would be happy if you could write illustrations and text there!

*There are also other companies' offices on the floors of the office building currently being used by Crypton.

 

[MagicalMiku]

[30th Special Episode.1 PART3] The History of Crypton
(translated from the original interview in japanese, available here:)
https://www.wantedly.com/companies/crypton/post_articles/992716

Everything is for creators. This has been our unwavering philosophy since our founding!

- In our next interview, we plan to delve deeper into the business content of our company by category, but our business is quite broad, and from a third party's perspective, it may seem that we lack consistency as a "sound trading company."
So, in this first interview, I would like to tell everyone reading this article that "we do have consistency!" Could you tell us about our company's mission as "meta creators" and our catchphrase "creating what we make"?

Ito : I'm sure there are people who wonder, "Why is a sound trading company doing character licensing and regional development projects?" But there is of course consistency.

As I mentioned at the beginning, our company was founded as a "sound trading company" that imports and sells sound materials such as sound effects. We didn't define a corporate mission or slogan from the beginning, but from that time on, I wanted to support music creators with the "sound" I handled, and I also wanted to give something back to my hometown, Hokkaido, through business someday.

When we released "VOCALOID2 Hatsune Miku" in 2007 and many works such as music and illustrations were posted online, I found it interesting that various works were being created, and I thought that we should not stop that flow. And in order to maintain and create an environment where everyone can easily create with "Hatsune Miku", I also thought that we had no choice but to protect the character license ourselves.

Of course, I was not completely free of doubts. When we developed the content posting site "piapro", I asked myself whether it was something a sound trading company should do. But the answer came quickly. In order to boost the creations of music creators, it would be better to create an environment where other creators who collaborate with each other - in other words, illustrators, video makers, and other various creators - can create freely, and foster an environment where a chain of creations can easily occur. That's what we thought.

It may have been around that time that we started to become strongly aware of our current mission as "meta-creators." As creators for creators, that is, "meta-creators," we decided to create products and services that are necessary for various creators to create something, not limited to music. The catchphrase that succinctly expresses our corporate philosophy is "Tsukuru wo tsukuru."

Nishio : We started accepting proposals for Hatsune Miku from various companies, of course, as a way for creators to present their work, but we also wanted to expand the creative chain and the area by doing things that we couldn't do on our own. In developing the project, we placed emphasis on not degrading Hatsune Miku as music software, making sure that creators were involved, and making sure that the development would produce something new. "Is that project something that can only be done with Hatsune Miku?", "We need to confirm with the creator, but can we schedule it?", "Can we reorganize the project into something new that has more affinity with Miku?", etc. I was an outsider with a bullish attitude who didn't know the basics of character licensing, and I caused a lot of trouble for each licensee. However, it was not our character, but a character that could not exist without the creation of creators, so it was something we couldn't compromise on, and we came with the thought, "Let's all create fun things together, licensees, as licensees, become part of the creative chain!"

I think we have been seriously facing the idea of "creating what we make". We are very grateful to each company that has been sincere in facing our unreasonable and involved development without getting carried away.

Hatsuyama : We officially decided on the company mission and catchphrase around 2017, but the president's policy has remained consistent since the company was founded. Always, everything, for the creators. With "Hatsune Miku", that desire has been directed toward more than just music creators, but I feel that our desire to develop a business that benefits creators by combining the technologies of "sound" and the Internet has not wavered even after 20 years together.

-The regional development project is also in line with the catchphrase "Creating what we make."

Ito : Yes. I think that people who make music, grow vegetables, and build towns are all "creators." And I also think that creativity is the strength of a nation.

That's why we're applying the power of "content" and "technology" that we've cultivated so far to develop local projects that support our hometown, Hokkaido.

If you think of this as a "sound trading company," it may seem a little out of place, but if you think of it as an initiative by a private company in Hokkaido, I think you'll see it as a natural progression. At least, in my mind, it's all connected.

-Finally, we would like to ask Mr. Hatsuyama and Mr. Nishio, who cooperated as the first conversation partners with President Ito. Please tell us the most memorable episode related to "creation" that has happened since you joined the company!

Hatsuyama : I'm in charge of administration, so I remember helping renovate the office, which is a new word for "creation."

Our office is roughly divided into two areas, the "Noisy Zone" and the "Mokumoku Zone." Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the programmers in the "Mokumoku Zone" have switched to teleworking, and vacant seats have become noticeable. In response to the president's words that he wanted to "stimulate communication among employees," we decided to renovate part of the "Mokumoku Zone" into a cafe space. The president decided on the outline of the blueprint, but the specific design was left to the management team with a lot of discretion. It was fun to hear from employees about the colors of the chairs and floor carpets and decide by majority vote.

Thanks to that, many employees still gather at lunchtime, and recently there are not enough seats. We also have club activities and screenings, and we are happy to see that it is being used more after regular hours.

Nishio : There are too many episodes to narrow it down to one, but the ones that left a strong impression on me were the live performances at Nippon Budokan for "Hatsune Miku Magical Mirai 2015" and "HATSUNE MIKU EXPO 2014 in Indonesia". I was watching both from the back of the venue, and in the middle of the excitement, I was drawn into a silent space filled with an emotion that was difficult to express in words, with nuances like "thank you" and "okay, next", and was not directed at anyone or anything.

Maybe I was just so tired that I felt relieved, but the scene at that time is burned into my memory. I am grateful that I have been able to see so many different scenes thanks to being involved in "creation".

-Thank you everyone!

From the second episode onwards, we plan to have talks with people in charge of each business, in the order of music business, character-related business, creator support business, and regional development business. Please look forward to it!

Mai Shirai
Crypton Future Media, Inc. / Marketer
Joined Crypton Future Media, Inc. in August 2018. Public relations officer. Recently, I was happy to see the Hatsune Miku episode of the TV show "New Project X" and the book "The Future of Creation".

 

[MagicalMiku]

special message from Crypton Future Media's CEO, Hiroyuki Ito, for the 30th Anniversary(●'◡'●)
(translated from the original message in japanese, available here:)

30th ANNIVERSARY｜クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア株式会社

札幌から「ツクルを創る」を続けて30年。クリプトン・フューチャー・メディアは2025年7月21日に設立30周年を迎えました。

www.crypton.co.jp

On July 21, 2025, our company, Crypton Future Media, Inc., celebrated its 30th anniversary!

Looking back, we were founded in July 1995. Now it is July 2025, so the era has come full circle. I started my business at the age of 30, so this year I finally turned 60.

At that time, the Internet had not yet spread widely in society. It was a time when traditional media industries such as telephones, newspapers, and broadcasting were very dominant. I think that emerging forces trying to start something with the Internet and computers were classified as a little odd, and I think that many people in the world were not yet aware of the changes that were coming. That is why I started my business in Sapporo, where I live, because I "really wanted to explore what was beyond digital on my own." The background of my company and why I started it in Sapporo are written in the message for the 20th anniversary of its establishment.

Over the past 30 years, the environment related to music (production, distribution, advertising, etc.) has changed drastically. There is a DAW (music production software) studio inside the computer, and virtual instruments can be used to create not only drums and orchestras, but also human singing voices since the advent of VOCALOID (a voice synthesis technology developed by Yamaha Corporation). It has become common to publish music created through video sites and music distribution services, and the distance that homemade music can be delivered has rapidly expanded from Japan to the world. In addition, by utilizing SNS, individuals have become media, and new information can now be casually disseminated.

In 2007, we quickly shifted the sale of our original DTM software from box sales to online distribution through "SONICWIRE". In addition, we started "ROUTER.FM" in 2010 as a service that allows music creators to sell their music worldwide, and have established an infrastructure system that allows one-stop delivery to streaming services around the world such as Apple Music and Spotify, Finger Print services, and video streaming services. We have also developed services that broaden the scope of expression for music creators, such as "SONOCA," a music card for smartphones, and "COUGEN," a lighting control tool for musicians.

We are also actively working on Hatsune Miku and other piapro characters, and in January 2025, the first animated work featuring Hatsune Miku, "Project SEKAI: The Broken World and Miku Who Can't Sing," was released nationwide. In April and May, we have completed the "Hatsune Miku JAPAN LIVE TOUR 2025 ~BLOOMING~" concert tour, visiting seven cities in Japan, and in November, we plan to hold "HATSUNE MIKU EXPO 2025 ASIA," our first Asian tour. In addition, Hatsune Miku and our efforts have been increasingly featured in the media as good examples of industry and culture.

We carry out many of these operations in Sapporo, where our headquarters is located. We started our business in the days when the Internet was still a novelty, believing in the potential of the Internet. Since our founding, we have installed Internet lines in our offices, built servers, and used them to the fullest. That's why we were able to do business with the world from Sapporo, a regional city. Thirty years have passed since our founding, and although the Internet is no longer at the forefront, it has become fully established as social infrastructure. On top of the infrastructure of the Internet, various technologies have been born (AI, blockchain, etc.). These technologies will also eventually become infrastructure and will surely affect music creators, which will bring about changes in both music and creators. The exciting future will continue, and Crypton would like to continue to be interested in such technologies (we are also looking for friends who will create the future together!).

Thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye. Mirai (the future) will continue, and we would like to continue to walk together with you.

Thank you for your continued support!

July 21, 2025
Crypton Future Media, Inc.
Representative Director Hiroyuki Ito