Hachi Inc. and Future Sessions Inc. to Merge on June 30, Launching as Artiql Inc.

Hachi Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yu Kato; hereinafter "Hachi") and Future Sessions Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEOs: Hideyuki Arifuku, Dairou Kakei; hereinafter "Future Sessions") will merge on June 30, 2026, and launch anew as Artiql Inc.

Background of the Merger

Hachi has operated under the mission of "Rewrite Our Futures," running digital media such as IDEAS FOR GOOD—an ideas magazine that creatively addresses social issues—and providing sustainability and circular business (city) design services for corporations and local governments.

Future Sessions has advanced numerous co-creation projects in urban development, civic collaboration, talent development, sports utilization, and future creation by facilitating creative dialogue spaces known as "Future Sessions" to realize social innovation alongside corporations and municipalities.

Over the years, both companies have collaborated extensively, leveraging their respective strengths in sustainability × media and social innovation × Future Sessions. Joint initiatives include co-developing the circular design learning program "Circular Design Sprint" and the future design learning program "Facilitating Sustainable Futures," jointly participating in Kanazawa University's COI-NEXT (JST's Program for Creating Interdisciplinary Research Fields), and establishing the social art organization "Shakai Geijutsusha." Since January 2026, both teams have operated from a shared office, deepening discussions on the role of media and co-creation in the age of climate crisis and AI.

Through these collaborations, both companies reaffirmed their strong complementary relationship—using media to generate empathy and co-creation processes to facilitate transitions toward better futures. They concluded that integrating their strengths into a unified organization would enable them to go beyond mutual supplementation, accelerating and deepening societal transformation through new value creation—leading to the decision to merge.

Going forward, as Artiql Inc., the company will further strengthen its business foundation as a global yet locally rooted brand, operating in Japan, Asia, and Europe, and will continue advancing toward a sustainable future together with partners and readers.

About Artiql Inc.

Following the merger, Artiql Inc. will uniquely integrate three core businesses—media, futures design (Futures Design Lab), and place-based initiatives—working collaboratively with partners across Japan and worldwide. As a one-of-a-kind organization, Artiql will drive creative initiatives in sustainability and social innovation through media, co-creation process design, and physical hubs.

Media Business

Creating empathy through media operations including "IDEAS FOR GOOD," the circular economy-focused "Circular Economy Hub," and "Zenbird," which shares Japan's sustainability stories globally; pursuing new reader experiences that enrich people in the AI era.

Flagship Initiative: Evolution to IDEAS FOR GOOD 2.0—Media Rebranding

Since its launch in 2016, "IDEAS FOR GOOD" has shared global creative solutions to social challenges. Based on support received through a crowdfunding campaign conducted at the end of 2025, the platform will undergo a major revamp. The new concept: "From a media that publishes, to a media that co-edits." It will evolve beyond delivering articles, becoming a space where readers co-define questions about better futures, discuss, co-create, and take action together.

・IDEAS FOR GOOD

https://ideasforgood.jp/

Futures Design Business (Futures Design Lab)

Integrating Future Sessions' co-creation projects for corporations and municipalities with Hachi's sustainability and circular business (city) design services offered via IDEAS FOR GOOD Business Design Lab, to design and execute transition processes toward sustainable futures.

Flagship Initiative: "RETOTYPE"—A program for wisdom succession and organizational culture co-creation using dialogue and AI

Developed in response to generational shifts and DX advancement in large enterprises, this program transfers the "intentions and mindsets behind procedures" cultivated by veteran staff to the next generation. Through interviews and dialogue, tacit knowledge embedded in frontline operations is structured and transformed into articulable insights. This enables living wisdom—beyond what manuals can convey—to be shared and embedded across the organization, co-creating the next era's organizational culture.

・Future Sessions project examples

https://www.futuresessions.com/projects/

Place-Based Business

Practicing and implementing circular experience and service design through physical hubs such as "Sta.R," and developing place-based media.

Flagship Initiative: Launch of "Sta.R (Station R)," a hub for circular culture creation

In collaboration with the City of Yokohama, "Sta.R," a hub themed around Creativity × Circularity × Culture, will open in August 2026 at a space directly connected to Seizon Main Line's "Hoshikawa" Station. Designated as a "Creative District Hub" under Yokohama's Creative City policy, this will be the first such hub located in a suburban area. "Sta.R" will feature a permanent Material Library, art gallery, and shop, aiming to nurture a circular culture where every person and resource is valued, fostering encounters among materials, ideas, and people.

・Circular culture creation hub "Sta.R (Station R)"

https://stationr.yokohama/

Executive Comments

Yu Kato (CEO): "As climate crises accelerate and AI advances, increasing future uncertainty, we believe the value media should provide is shifting—from 'broadcasting' to 'receiving,' from 'solutions' to 'questions,' from 'products' to 'processes,' and from 'digital' to 'real.' As a new organization embodying these transformations, Artiql will work with stakeholders to realize a future where everyone can live authentically, wrapped in hope and kindness."

Hideyuki Arifuku (CEO): "We have long created future possibilities through dialogue. At Artiql, by integrating media and expanding into physical spaces, we will evolve into an organization capable of driving initiatives from conception to societal implementation. We will continue working with co-creation partners to transition toward a sustainable future."

Dairou Kakei (CEO): "We believe society moving forward should not follow someone else's answers, but rather be shaped by each individual posing questions and co-creating the future. Having long fostered dialogue across different perspectives, we at Artiql will unify empathy and co-creation, building together with you a society where everyone supports one another as creators of the future."

Merger Overview

Item

Details

Merger Type

Absorption merger (Surviving Company: Hachi Inc. / Dissolved Company: Future Sessions Inc.)

Effective Date of Merger

June 30, 2026

New Corporate Name

Artiql Inc. (Trademark application pending)

Head Office Address

3F, Motoakasaka East 302, 1-7-18 Motoakasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo (No change)

Representative Directors

Yu Kato, Hideyuki Arifuku, Dairou Kakei

Directors

Takahiro Amano, Yuko Nagano, Yu Hara

Company Profiles

Hachi Inc.

Founded: December 2015

Headquarters: 3F, Motoakasaka East 302, 1-7-18 Motoakasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Business: Digital media operations, sustainable and circular design services for corporations and local governments

Future Sessions Inc.

Founded: June 2012

Headquarters: 3F, Motoakasaka East 302, 1-7-18 Motoakasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Business: Co-creation consulting, facilitation, and design and execution of co-creation projects

https://artiql.jp