POPOPO Co., Ltd. will hold a service announcement event for its new smartphone app “POPOPO” on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at 12:00 PM. The announcement event will be streamed on the official POPOPO YouTube channel.
The press conference will feature appearances by Anno Hideaki, GACKT, Nishimura Hiroyuki, Tezuka Makoto, and Kawakami Nobuo. While specific details of the service have not yet been revealed, comments from those involved in the development have mentioned the metaverse and VR, suggesting that it may be an application related to XR technology.
POPOPO Inc. is a company funded by Kawakami Nobuo, who commented on X that it would be “my second time using a social networking service in a long time.” It was also revealed that the project started from a discussion about “what kind of metaverse Zuckerberg should have created.”
【Announcement】We will be holding a press conference for our new service, “POPOPO,” on Wednesday, March 18th at 12:00 PM.
https://t.co/ZMEY0OtcGO
【登壇者】庵野秀明、GACKT、西村博之、手塚眞、川上量生 #POPOPO pic.twitter.com/6n97j2KtJu— POPOPO (@official_popopo) March 11, 2026
【Announcement】I am pleased to announce that a new service will be launched next week by a company that I personally funded 100%. This will be my second time using social media in a while. Thank you for your support. https://t.co/ZYNKjhrUJS
— Kawango (@gweoipfsd) March 11, 2026
The teaser site features comments from the creators involved in the app’s development. These are quoted below.
Producer’s comments posted on the official website
Makoto Tezuka (Visualist/Film Director)
When they told me they wanted to turn ordinary conversation into entertainment, I thought, “This is incredibly interesting, this is the next era.”
Even if you’re not a professional, you can still create content. And viewers can accept and enjoy it.
Even videos have grammar.
I wanted to create a proper grammar using basic particles like “te,” “ni,” and “wo.”
Takayuki Fukatsu (Service Designer)
I have a feeling that we are now entering the “last era in which humans will create apps.”
AI will likely further exacerbate the situation where development capabilities directly translate into revenue-generating power, giving global capital an advantage.
In this environment, what position will POPOPO take, and what kind of unique experience can it create?
We’ve carefully polished those edges. I hope you can sense the signs of new value.
Tomoyuki Arima (Designer)
There’s a huge gap between YouTube and Netflix, and I think there’s a lot of content opportunity between rich visuals and casual videos.
POPOPO is something that lies somewhere between a phone call and a conversation, and I actually think it has a lot of potential to be very relaxed.
I don’t think that the relationships and memories created through POPOPO are purely virtual.
Because I think that’s their true self.
Kei Kato (Space Director / CEO of ANNA SUI Japan)
I get the feeling that there’s a certain tacit knowledge within POPOPO’s space.
It’s not really like 01, or something.
It’s not perfect, but it has that kind of feel to it.
I feel that this is something that can only be done originating in Japan.
For me, the digital realm was something I had never worked in before, so it was very new and exciting.
However, in conclusion, I felt that it was essentially the same as creating a real space.
Ultimately, POPOPO is all about stage design.
Shinnosuke Iwaki (Chief Technology Officer)
Having worked on VR services for a long time, I’ve realized that there’s an inherent limit to the number of people that VR head-mounted displays can reach.
So next up is the smartphone metaverse.
I believe we’ve created a completely new VR service.
I don’t think current AI can do that yet.
This article is an English translation of an original Japanese article, translated by the Mogura VR editorial team.
reference
https://www.popopo.com/lp/teaser/
