Fukaya City and Kids Public Hold Joint Press Conference for "Full-Scale Launch of On-site Pediatric Online Consultation"

Left: Chairman Kuroya of Fukaya Yorii Medical Association, Center: Mayor Kojima of Fukaya City, Right: Our representative Hashimoto

Kids Public Inc. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative: Naoya Hashimoto, hereinafter "the Company"), an online medical service provider, held a joint press conference with Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture (Mayor: Susumu Kojima) at the Fukaya City Hall main building on Monday, April 20, 2026, including a demonstration of the "On-site Pediatric Online Consultation" which officially commenced on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

This project is the first initiative in Japan (*) where pediatric online consultations can be received at municipal facilities, following the revised Medical Practitioners Act enforced on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

Many media outlets, including public broadcasting, newspapers, and medical specialized magazines, attended the event, drawing high attention as a new pediatric medical service and a child-rearing support measure for Fukaya City.

*As of April 2026, according to our company's research.

※For details on the official implementation of pediatric online consultations, please see this press release.

※For official information from Fukaya City regarding this project, please check here.

■Press Conference Highlights

1. Explanation of the background and greetings by Mayor Kojima for the full-scale implementation

At the conference, Mayor Kojima addressed the serious shortage of pediatricians in the northern Saitama region and the insufficient environment for receiving appropriate medical care during sudden illnesses or injuries on holidays and nights. He stated that this situation, voiced by child-rearing households, is a problem that Fukaya City cannot overlook.

He also explained that due to the significant positive response to the trial implementation from November to December last year, and requests from users to "please continue," Fukaya City decided to officially launch the "On-site Pediatric Online Consultation" ahead of other municipalities nationwide. He concluded by saying, "We hope this project will help support an environment where child-rearing households in Fukaya City can raise children with peace of mind, and we intend to continue to work closely with the medical association and related organizations to create an environment where children can be raised throughout Fukaya City."

2. Overview of the project explained by Representative Hashimoto of the Company

Next, Representative Hashimoto of the Company, who is the installer of the online consultation reception facility for this project, explained the system: Fukaya City provides the location and operational cooperation, the Company is responsible for the installation and operation of the reception facility, and cooperating medical institutions provide medical care.

He also explained that the "On-site Pediatric Online Consultation" is a complementary initiative to supplement initial pediatric care limited to Sunday and holiday nights (6 PM to 9 PM) when the "Children's Night Clinic" provided by the Fukaya Yorii Medical Association located in Fukaya City is closed, proposing it as a new option to support regional medical care.

3. Demonstration

At the venue, using actual medical equipment, nurses measured respiratory sounds, pharyngeal findings, and tympanic membrane findings from children, sent the data to doctors, and demonstrated how doctors could view the data on a computer screen connected to a projector to provide medical care.

Image: Representative Hashimoto explaining the transmitted measurement data.

Image: Nurse measuring pharyngeal findings using equipment.

■Kids Public's goal: Sustainable pediatric medical system through the fusion of in-person and online care

The "On-site Pediatric Online Consultation" serves a complementary role to initial pediatric clinics on Sundays and holidays. This project is one of the Company's visions: "Realizing a society where everyone can spend their growth process healthily."

With the online health and medical consultation service "Obstetrics and Gynecology/Pediatrics Online" and "On-site Pediatric Online Consultation," which have already been introduced in many municipalities, the Company aims to create a new global standard by fusing medical power and technology to protect children's health.

■About Kids Public

Established in 2015 by pediatrician Naoya Hashimoto. In May 2016, "Pediatrics Online" was launched as an online remote health and medical consultation service. In 2017, obstetrician-gynecologist Daisuke Shigemi joined, and the following year "Obstetrics and Gynecology Online" was launched. In 2023, the operation of "Daytime Midwife Consultation" began. The cumulative number of consultations exceeds 300,000, and various consultation services are offered, including "Anytime Consultation" where users can consult medical professionals via text 24/7, "Night Consultation" for 10-minute video calls with medical professionals, and "Everyone's Consultation Search" which allows searching over 40,000 consultation cases and answers created by doctors and midwives. With over 300,000 cumulative consultations and over 230 local government implementations, the company also focuses on demonstration experiments, effectiveness verification, and research through online consultations. By utilizing ICT, the company is committed to providing seamless support from pregnancy to child-rearing, contributing to the realization of a society where everyone can spend their growth process healthily.