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"I want to change the current situation where artists have to be discovered."

Arata Nakatsuji, 4th year student School of Political Science and Economics

In Kyoto in 2023

Arata Nakatsuji, a fourth-year student in School of Political Science and Economics, was selected for the Forbes Japan 30 UNDER 30 (2023), which recognizes young innovators under the age of 30 who are changing the world. He developed the app "artics," which allows users to meet people who share their interests by adding artworks from various artistic genres and creating a profile page that expresses a worldview that reflects their preferences. He is currently based in Silicon Valley in the United States. We spoke to Nakatsuji about what inspired him to develop the app, his vision for it, winning the Forbes award, and his outlook for the future.

-First of all, please tell us why you decided to go to Waseda University.

I spent my elementary and middle school years in the Netherlands, so I had been living abroad for a long time, and decided to go to a university in Japan because I wanted to learn more about Japanese culture and society, which is my roots. I was also originally interested in starting a business and wanted to meet interesting and talented people, so I was attracted to Waseda University, which is one of the Japanese universities that focuses on nurturing global talent and entrepreneurs. Another reason was that I learned that Waseda University is very famous in China during my internship at Huawei when I was in high school.

After enrolling, I took classes related to entrepreneurship and was selected as a finalist in the Waseda University Business Plan Contest that I participated in during my first year of university. This contest led me to meet people involved in entrepreneurship education, including those at the Entrepreneurship Center, and I still receive advice from them today. My experiences and encounters at Waseda are the foundation of my current activities.

Online pitch at the 2021 Waseda University Business Plan Contest Final

-What kind of plan did you propose for the business plan contest?

With the desire to change the current world where many artists give up on their dreams and the popularity of the arts is biased, I proposed a business plan for a social networking site called "artics" that connects people through their interests, and this became the prototype for the app. The trigger for this idea was when I won the World Choir Championship when I participated in it as a high school student.

The moment I finished singing in the finals of this competition, there was a standing ovation, some people were even crying, I felt the power of music that transcends borders, and I felt a strong sense of joy. However, I realized that there are few artists who can turn this joy into a job because they can't make money or it's difficult career-wise.

The 2019 World Choral Championship Finals were held at the Teatro Nuovo, a famous opera venue in Verona, Italy.

--What kind of app is "artics"?

"artics" is a social networking site where you can add your favorite works from various artistic genres (music, movies, anime, manga, paintings, books) and create a profile page that expresses a worldview that reflects your own tastes, allowing you to meet people who share your interests and discover works that are unique to you.

English advertisement for "artics"

For example, if you follow people who have similar tastes to you and take a look at their profile pages, you can discover interesting works that you have never known about before. Usually, the music we are exposed to is what is listed in the rankings presented by subscription music services, and the AI recommendation system is basically designed to make the best-selling artists even better. As a result, it is pushed by labels (one of the divisions of record companies), and it is said that 0.1% of artists actually account for 90% of the total listening time.

I see this as a skewed distribution. To resolve this imbalance, I think what the content industry needs now is a system where people can learn about and deepen their understanding of what they like through sharing with others, rather than just absorbing it from one-way media.

We believe that if we can dig deeper into what we like through friends and people who are similar to us, we can make a better match between artists and fans, and that this will lead to artists who have gained fans being able to turn their passions into a job. With this in mind, "artics" aims to change the value of the content industry so far and create a world where people can explore their passions further.

--You were selected for the Forbes Japan 30 UNDER 30, which recognizes young innovators under the age of 30 who will change the world in 2023. Why do you think you were selected?

I was really surprised when I found out I was selected. I think they appreciated the fact that I am actually expanding my business overseas. Japanese people are starting to play an active role in various fields such as sports and the arts, but the presence of Japanese people in the startup world is weak, which I find very frustrating. I think that if one Japanese superstar emerges, the situation will change dramatically, and the number of Japanese entrepreneurs who take on global challenges will increase as a matter of course, so I am working every day with the desire to become that person.

Photo taken at the Forbes Awards Ceremony in August 2023

--Please tell us about your future goals and a message to those who want to be active on the world stage.

I've completely shifted the app "artics," which I originally made for Japanese users, to the US version. Since the vision of "artics" is "a big shift in values," I thought it would be meaningless if I didn't change the market structure to global standards, so I moved my base to the US. I thought that being in my twenties in Silicon Valley, where talented people from all over the world gather, would lead to great growth for me.

Our family motto is "The person who makes the most people happy will be the happiest," and ever since I was little I've been thinking about how to make the world a better place. This app is my embodiment of that idea. I'm currently facing many challenges, such as how to succeed in Silicon Valley, where talented people from all over the world gather, and the barriers of culture and experience. Still, I want to contribute to the happiness of many people by achieving overwhelming results here and creating a system where passionate people can live and shine.

I think it's very valuable to think, "I want to be active globally" and "I want to take on the world." We owe our convenient and prosperous lives to our predecessors who took on challenges and learned from overseas during the Meiji Restoration and the postwar period of economic development. I believe that our generation has a duty and mission to take on challenges on a global scale, with the uniquely Japanese sensibilities that the world needs today. So please don't hesitate to take on challenges with us.

South by Southwest (SXSW) started as a music festival, and after Twitter won the grand prize at the SXSW Web Awards in 2007, it started to attract attention as a "technology festival" and "startup festival." This photo shows "artics" exhibiting at SXSW in 2024 and holding a poster at the main venue. On the first day of the event, the "artics" poster stood out, so the official photographer approached them and took a photo. (From left) "artics" COO Sato and Nakatsuji

No.868

Interviewed and written by Waseda Weekly Reporter (SJC student staff)
Shino Watanabe 3rd year student School of Education