Suntory is known as one of Japan's leading alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers. This large corporation has launched an in-house venture subsidiary, GoodMeasure, to fully enter the web3 field.
The project is led by Highball Charlie, the initiator of the highball boom at Suntory, and Terry Tomonaga, CEO of 8Ships, a global web3 company. We spoke to these two key people about the future developments of the project, which is scheduled to begin in earnest in 2024.
First, please tell us about your background.
Highball Charlie (hereafter, Charlie): I love drinking and eating, so I joined Suntory in 1998.
During my job interview, I said, "I discovered that alcohol contains vitamins." I then asked the HR department, "What do you think vitamins are?" and then replied, "It's not A or B, it's love!" It probably doesn't affect my physical condition, but when I said, "It's a vitamin that energizes the mind!" I was thought of as an interesting guy and was hired (laughs).
After that, I was involved in various businesses and was even able to join a project team that aimed to popularize the highball way of drinking. However, when the project was successful and highballs became all the rage, I felt like I had nowhere to go.
Then, I got the opportunity to promote highballs in the United States. In these interviews, I call myself "Highball Charlie," but this is a kind of stage name I took up at that time because people in the United States didn't remember my real name.
After spending five years in the United States as Highball Charlie, I returned to Japan. When I came back, I was thinking about what to do next and that's when I came across NFTs.
Terry Tomonaga (hereafter, Terry): I was born in Japan, but lived in the United States. I worked in a bank and started and managed an international education company 20 years ago. I also built a school in Cambodia.
I always think that Japan is a wonderful country, and I think about how we can produce people who can be active globally. Japanese games and anime in particular are a great weapon.
One day when I went to New York, I had a moment when I felt the greatness of NFTs, that they are the embodiment of values, or the creation of a space where people with similar values can gather together with digital items.
Until now, there has been a tendency to value trust, relationships, and the atmosphere and tacit understanding in Japan, but it is quite difficult to convey such things to people around the world. But on the other hand, it is also one of the good things about Japan.
When I realized how amazing NFTs were, I thought they would be the strongest tool to convey the good things about Japan.
Japan needs to go out more globally. Even from the perspective of fair value, I think there is a big gap between something being bought for 100 dollars around the world and being sold for 1,000 yen in Japan.
I'm interested in using blockchain to find out how we can bridge this value gap.
Charlie: During the five years I spent in the US, I also realised how amazing Japan is.
Even when I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken, people praised Japanese cars, and in Las Vegas bars, a glass of Yamazaki on the rocks was selling for $50 to $70. In New York, a bar was selling 100 TOKI Whisky highballs a day for $20 each.
Americans don't hesitate to pay the appropriate amount for great Japanese products.
