Announcement of Webinar on Thursday, April 16, 2026: 'Decoding SXSW 2026: Business Trends and the Forefront of Technology for 2027'

amana inc. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Takeaki Kaneko; hereinafter "amana"), which realizes communication transformation through creativity, will hold an online seminar on Thursday, April 16, 2026, themed "Decoding SXSW 2026: Business Trends and the Forefront of Technology for 2027."

South by Southwest (SXSW) is one of the world's largest innovation and creative conferences, held every March. In 2026, marking a major milestone of 40 years since its inception in 1987, the event was held under the theme "All Together Now," with the fusion of technology and humanity and the reconstruction of community serving as the core of the discussions.

This year also strongly highlighted that the AI boom has moved past its initial transient frenzy and has transitioned into a phase of "implementation and ethics," focusing on how it will specifically change our lives and ways of working.

In this webinar, we will welcome Mr. Riku Akimoto from the innovation advisory firm "STYLUS," which researches global market trends, as a guest to report on the key discussion points and notable fields from SXSW 2026. By contrasting insights gained from annual SXSW research with this year's trends, we will provide valuable perspectives.

Speaker

Riku Akimoto

Country Manager, Stylus Japan K.K.

After gaining experience as a consultant at IBM and GiXo, he participated in the launch of the Israeli startup Outbrain Japan and has been in his current position since September 2019. He specializes in the localization of overseas technology and business concepts.

Recommended for:

• Those in marketing, advertising, and promotion departments

• Those in new business development departments

• Those who want to know the latest trends

Event Overview

Date and Time: Thursday, April 16, 2026, 12:00–12:50

Capacity: 200 people

Participation Fee: Free

Registration URL: https://bit.ly/4tmxV7i

Inquiries: TEL 03-3740-4011 (Main), E-Mail event@amana.jp

About amana inc.

Established in 1979 as an advertising photography production company. Since then, it has expanded its business into one of Japan's largest creative studios, producing and providing visual content such as stills, videos (TV commercials, web videos, etc.), and CG (retouching, 3DCG, apparel CG). Currently, by leveraging its abundant creative resources and the knowledge cultivated through 10,000 projects per year, the company is committed to realizing communication transformations that convey the value of client companies and move people through creativity. Furthermore, by combining proprietary products (solutions) developed by amana, the company handles numerous projects that enhance corporate value together with clients, such as supporting corporate communication measures and the promotion of DX (Digital Transformation).

amana inc. Company Overview

Representative: Takeaki Kaneko, President and Representative Director

Address: 2-2-43 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo

Established: April 1979

Capital: 100 million yen

Number of Employees: (Consolidated) 520 *As of January 1, 2026

Business Description:

Visual Communication Business (Strategy and planning in the communication field, brand design & activation, internal communication, content marketing, content production/editing, prototyping, movie/graphic production, web production, and planning of various other promotional measures, etc.)

URL: https://amana.jp/