The 11th Edition of "Virtual Market 2023 Winter," The World's Largest Metaverse Event With Three Guinness World Records™, will be held over 16 days from December 2 (Sat) to 17 (Sun)!

HIKKY( Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yasushi Funakoshi) will hold "Virtual Market 2023 Winter", the 11th edition of the world's largest metaverse event, which has been awarded three Guinness World Records™, from December 2 (Sat.) to 17 (Sun.), 2023. As the first announcement of exhibitors, details of each company's booth and the virtual venue where the company's booth will be exhibited will be announced.

Virtual Market (a.k.a. Vket) was first held in 2018 with the aim of "enriching the virtual world and creating an economic sphere" in its infancy, before the term "metaverse" became commonplace. This year marks the 5th anniversary of the first Vket, which was held in 2018. In the past 10 editions, a total of 5,500 circles and 500 companies have exhibited, and a total of over 8.22 million people have visited the market. The 10th Virtual Market 2023 Winter was a great success and was the first time that a real event was held at Vket. This year's Virtual Market 2023 Winter will also feature real events in Shibuya and Harajuku. Virtual Market will continue to provide solutions that connect the real world and the metaverse more seamlessly, aiming for a world where both can coexist in a richer and more convenient world.

This year's corporate exhibitors will exhibit at three venues that are para-real versions of "Shibuya-Harajuku", "London", and "Okinawa".

At "Para-real Shibuya/Harajuku," the Harajuku area will be reproduced starting from the Takeshita Exit of Harajuku Station, including streets such as Ura-Harajuku and Cat Street, and the Shibuya area near SHIBUYA109, where various corporate booths will be set up. Please enjoy the paralyzed Shibuya and Harajuku area based on pop and fancy colors in conjunction with the Vket Real in Shibuhara to be held on December 16 and 17.

At "Para-real London," corporate exhibition booths will be spread out in a para-real space that recreates famous and iconic London spots such as the London Underground, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square, as well as streets such as the King's Road and Camden Town. Please enjoy the fantasy venue with a magical theme.

"Para-real Okinawa" is divided into three areas, each inspired by Kokusai Street, the remote islands of Okinawa Prefecture, and Shurijo Castle, and is filled with the charm of tropical Okinawa. Please enjoy the Okinawa that can be expressed only in the metaverse, as if you are on the ground but in the sea.

Sharp will be exhibiting at the Virtual Market for the first time! Sharp's first new VR head-mounted display, scheduled for commercialization in the summer of 2024, will be exhibited in a booth at Para-real London. Visitors to the booth will be able to see use cases of how to take advantage of the product's features, hold a full-scale 3D model of the product in their hands, and take a close 360° look at it, an experience only possible in the Metaverse. In addition, those who answer the questionnaire and register for the newsletter will receive a free 3D model of this HMD that can be attached to their avatar.

The world of "Wonder Hutch: The Island of Flying Dragons," Disney Plus' original fantasy adventure blockbuster depicting two worlds in "live action" and "animation," will be on display at a booth where visitors can fully experience the world of the film! At the booths floating in the sky at ParaReal Shibuya and Harajuku, visitors will be able to relive the world of "Wonder Hutch" and take pictures with "Gaffin," the character from the film. The booth will also be exhibited at the "Virtual Market 2023 Real in Shibuhara," where visitors will be able to enjoy original drawings and videos of the work.

Rohto Pharmaceutical continued to exhibit a large booth as in the previous show! For the fourth time in total, Rohto will have a cute emerald green booth decorated with ribbons and hearts at Paralyal Shibuya and Harajuku. The booth will feature a "Lip Cream Factory" where visitors can try their hand at making Rohto lip cream, as well as a "Rohto Photo Seal" machine where visitors can take photo stickers related to the culture of Shibuya and Harajuku.

In addition, a real product set commemorating the Vket 2023 Winter exhibition, "Uruoi Kokoro-chan Set," will be available for purchase! This set includes lip balm and a tote bag with Vket's original design, which can only be purchased here.

JVC KENWOOD Corporation will exhibit at Virtual Market for the fourth time in total! The giant gramophone-shaped booth, which was very popular last time, will be updated to Christmas specifications at Para-real Shibuya and Harajuku. Inside the booth, visitors will be able to participate in a VR live performance of the hit song "God of Romance" by Kami Hirose. This is a new kind of virtual live performance in which the avatar of Kami Hirose, which has been redesigned for this exhibit, sings and dances. At the end of the live, a big announcement will be made...?　It will also be deployed in the web browser venue, which can be accessed from smartphones. And on December 16 (Sat), a real event will be held in a tie-up with BEAMS.

BEAMS is exhibiting for the seventh time, breaking the record for the most number of times a virtual market company has exhibited! BEAMS, founded in Harajuku in 1976 and a driving force in Japanese fashion culture, will be bringing Vket to life both in real and virtual life.

The first floor of the virtual store at ParaReal Harajuku will host the second BEAMS Virtual Fashion Contest, a competition to see who can wear this season's new outfits (3D outfits for avatars), an upgrade of the runway that was popular last time. On the second floor, visitors will be able to try on a variety of outfits with a single click, including a new outfit from the first virtual-only project (BEAMS' first for the VRChat environment) on the fitting floor. On the rooftop, a crepe stand and photo booth will provide a place for visitors to relax.

In the real world, a dedicated venue for the virtual market will again be set up on the third floor of BEAMS HARAJUKU (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), the first store established by the company that served as the model for the virtual store. A total of approximately 40 employees will take turns participating in virtual customer service on the side, and customers can also enjoy the virtual experience using VR equipment.

We also plan to hold special events on the weekend of December 16 (Sat.) and 17 (Sun.), when the Vket real event will be held, including a live performance in collaboration with JVC Kenwood, as a place where customers who met at the virtual store can also meet in real life. Please come and visit us in Harajuku, the home of BEAMS!

Pilot Corporation will exhibit at the Virtual Market for the second time, following the last time! The two-story booth will be set up in Para-real Okinawa, an Okinawan-style booth that will be suitable for the beach. On the first floor of the booth, six canvases and five Pilot Corporation representative writing instruments will be set up, and visitors will be able to experience a unique drawing experience in metaverse, where drawings made with the instruments will come to life as three-dimensional objects. On the second floor of the booth, visitors can take a quiz to learn more about Pilot Corporation. Visitors who fill out a questionnaire will receive a 3D model of the S20, a popular high-function mechanical pencil.

Takashimaya will have its first independent booth! Under the title of "Japanese SAKE Festival," Takashimaya will have a booth in Para-real London to display and sell 30 kinds of domestically produced sake selected from all over Japan. "We want people to enjoy drinking at home comfortably with delicious sake when they spend time at leisure," "We want people to know about sake breweries and distilleries because we can see where sake is produced and who makes it," "Sake and shochu, as well as wine and whiskey, are attracting attention from overseas, and in a good sense, we want people to enjoy them at home. We want to bring you domestically produced sake with good cosmetic value. In addition to the "Original Sake Chart" in the booth, which will suggest recommended sake by answering questions, we will also offer special sake that can only be purchased here. During the exhibition, virtual customer service will be provided by sake buyers with more than 10 years of experience as buyers. (*All products will be sold through the Takashimaya Online Store.)

Club Cosmetics, a cosmetics manufacturer celebrating its 120th anniversary, is exhibiting at Virtual Market for the first time! The company will exhibit and sell products from its makeup brand "Suppin Series" and men's cosmetics brand "t8k" at the web browser venue, which can be easily accessed from smartphones. In addition, a counseling room will be set up where visitors can talk directly with staff members about men's skincare and makeup concerns, which are rarely discussed by men. We want to create an environment where customers can feel free to discuss their own concerns without feeling shame because they are being served by avatars who utilize the Metaverse," said Mr. Kato, "We also want men to feel that cosmetics are something casual. I want men to feel that cosmetics are something that suits them. We will realize these wishes."

This Metaverse customer service will be handled by Club Cosmetics' mom-and-pop employees, who will also use Metaverse as a new work style reform to enhance both their public and private lives while making full use of the flextime system that started this year.

UUUM Corporation will be exhibiting at Virtual Market following the previous show! This will be the first major exhibition, and UUUM's original casino booth will be set up in Para-real London. Inside the booth, which will be created by three UUUM creators, Koichi（https://www.youtube.com/user/kouichitv）, Nobaman（https://www.youtube.com/nobamangames）, and Hajimemashite Matsuo（https://www.youtube.com/@hajimemashite）, you will be able to play an original casino roulette game, and there will be an ATM to withdraw coins for playing roulette and a gasha with five different avatars designed by Nobaman to be won at random, There are many elements to play with! There will also be original illustrations and videos that can only be seen at this booth.

In addition, the booth will be exhibited at Vket Real in Shibuhara! At the event, real goods such as stickers and acrylic stands will be sold directly by hand by the three creators! Please take this opportunity to visit the booth.

Robot Consulting will exhibit at Virtual Market for the third time! The "Virtual Court," which was previously exhibited at the Web Browser venue, has been updated and will be exhibited at Para-real London, the venue for VRChat companies to exhibit. In the Virtual Court, visitors will be able to experience the service Robot Lawyer, a service being developed by Robot Consulting, which provides legal advice in the metaverse, using "voice interaction" for the first time. In addition, users can experience the "dash for victory" move often seen in the news using their own avatar, and can answer questionnaires to gather public opinion on the laws in metaverse and view statistics on other respondents. A wide variety of law-related content will be available.

Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, which has become well-established as a municipality utilizing the Metaverse, will be exhibiting at Virtual Market for the fourth consecutive time! This time again, a booth will be set up in Para-real Okinawa, where visitors can experience "Yaizu City, the City of Fish". In the booth, visitors can enjoy a Kaisendon Tower Battle game, “Don Don! Seafood Stacking DooN!”, in which they stack up tuna and bonito landed at the Port of Yaizu and seafood produced in the city, and compete for scores in terms of height and number of pieces. A tax payment simulator will be set up in the booth, where visitors can find out their own tax donation limit. You can also make a donation directly from the digital poster to the Furusato tax donation website.

Many other companies will also be exhibiting! Details of the booths of other companies will be announced in the future.

Please look forward to the event from December 2.

Sharp Corporation / Disney Plus "Wonder Hutch -The Island of Flying Dragons-" / Roth Corporation / Japan Racing Association (JRA) / JVC KENWOOD Corporation / Pilot Corporation / BELK Corporation / BEAMS Corporation / Universal Entertainment Corporation / Sammy Corporation Ltd. / Robot Consulting Corporation / Club Cosmetics Corporation / Takashimaya Company, Limited / J. Front Retailing Corporation / Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture / Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture / Aurora Corporation / Yamaha Motor Corporation / Japan Sanipak Co. Namco Bandai Music Live Inc. / Tokyo MARUI Inc. / SO.ON project LaV Tokyo School of Music & Dance College High School Course / Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store / UUUM Corporation / Keen Japan LLC / Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. Radio Charity Musicthon" / tenso Corporation / Ooga Pharmacy / St. KUNSTER II / Shibuya Tax Office / Seibu Shinkin Bank / ZENRIN Corporation / YoDayo AI / Syr Corp / Kuriclo, LLC / Arc System Works / diVRse Corporation / TOPPAN Corporation / Kana Pro Market / Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan / Earth Pharmaceuticals Corporation / KOIKEYA Corporation / YAMAHA Corporation / Audio-Technica Corporation / Logicool G / Genjin-oriented / Bauhutte / Xreal (Nreal) / TCL RayNeo / GALAKURO GAMING / HICAT / Okinawa World Culture Kingdom, Gyokusendo / Naha City International Street Shopping Arcade / Shuri Castle Park / PocketRD Corporation / Nago Pine Garden Corporation / OffKai Expo / BitSummit

Tokai Railway Company / Kyushu Railway Company

Name: Virtual Market 2023 Winter

Organizer: VR Corporation HIKKY

Dates: Metaverse venue→December 2 (Sat) to 17 (Sun), 2023 (16 days in total) Real Venue→December 16 (Sat) and 17 (Sun), 2023 (2 days in total)

Theme: Connect

Corporate Exhibition Venues: Para-real Shibuya and Harajuku / Para-real London / Para-real Okinawa

Real venues: Himmelbrau Harajuku, Wharf Harajuku, UNKNOWNHARAJUKU, SHIBUYA109 Shibuya storefront event space, Shibuya Sakura Stage, and other facilities and stores in Shibuya and Harajuku will also host collaborative content

Official SNS:

X→https://twitter.com/Virtual_Market_

YouTube→https://www.youtube.com/c/vketchannel

Instagram→https://www.instagram.com/vket_official/

Official website: https://event.vket.com/

Official website of the real event: https://event.vket.com/2023Winter/real/

How to visit: https://event.vket.com/access

You can visit the special world in VRChat from VR devices and gaming PCs.

Some browser-based venues will be available for visitors to enter by simply clicking on the URL from a smartphone or other device.

Some of the venues can also be accessed from Meta Quest itself.