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Space Market wins B Dash Camp pitch arena competition in Fukuoka

B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2014

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.24

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2014. On Day 2 at the B Dash Camp event taking place last week in Fukuoka, there was a session where prominent startups from Japan and the rest of Asia completed each other. According to the organizer, 35 finalists among all 100 applicants from six countries were invited to the event and could received a preliminary screening chapter which took place on Day 1. As a result of that, only 10 startups plus other 2 invited startups could have a chance to pitch in front of a crowd of awesome investors and ambitious entrepreneurs. Let’s have a quick rundown about which startups have achieved a good result in the competition. <Top award winner> Space Market (Japan) Space Market is a platform that connects permanently- or temporarily-unused venues or facilities owned by established companies with people who are interested in using these assets for organizing an event like a big conference, a shareholder meeting, and a employee training etc. Logbook (Japan) This platform helps you find the issues to solve in your web app or mobile app. Since this complies with service analyics framework AARRR, you will be able…

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2014.

On Day 2 at the B Dash Camp event taking place last week in Fukuoka, there was a session where prominent startups from Japan and the rest of Asia completed each other. According to the organizer, 35 finalists among all 100 applicants from six countries were invited to the event and could received a preliminary screening chapter which took place on Day 1. As a result of that, only 10 startups plus other 2 invited startups could have a chance to pitch in front of a crowd of awesome investors and ambitious entrepreneurs.

Let’s have a quick rundown about which startups have achieved a good result in the competition.

<Top award winner> Space Market (Japan)

Space Market is a platform that connects permanently- or temporarily-unused venues or facilities owned by established companies with people who are interested in using these assets for organizing an event like a big conference, a shareholder meeting, and a employee training etc.

Logbook (Japan)

This platform helps you find the issues to solve in your web app or mobile app. Since this complies with service analyics framework AARRR, you will be able to adopt this to improve any service regardless of its business category. Our readers may recall we have featured their platform before.

Tees.co.id (Indonesia)

This service allows you to customize or design products like t-shirt, jacket, and smartphone cases, as well as sell them online. Instead of you, the company takes responsibilities for receiving orders, manufacturing, shipping, and customer support.

Bounty Hunter (Taiwan)

This platform helps brands like Gogle, Blizzard, Gigabyte, Lexus, Kabam, and Playboy receive a best deal with a best proposal from marketing companies. Launched in Taiwan, they are now based in San Francisco Bay Area.

MindQuake (Korea)

MindQuake has developed a series of mobile services and products intended for infants and babies. Nester, one of their products, encourage children to stop using a smartphone with a children-friendly interface when they exceeded their preset usage hours per day.

Akippa (Japan)

Akippa helps customers find an available parking space online. When you book a time slot for it using your desktop or smartphone, you will be allowed to park your car there by paying up to 500 yen ($5) a day. It also allows parking lot owners to easily manage their venues via the platform as well. Our readers may recall the company recently fundraised several hundred thousand US dollars from DeNA and angel investors.

Lezhin Comics (Korea)

Lezhin Comics allows you to enjoy browsing a number of web cartoon titles for free. The company raised about $5 million from Korea’s major online gaming developer NC Soft this spring.

iChef（Taiwan)

iChef provides iPad-based quick and versatile POS (point-of-sales) solutions for restaurants. Now they have 200 restaurants using their solution in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and they are planning to expand to Japan as well. You can read more about them in our recent interview.

Textat (Korea)

Developed by Korean startup Scatter Lab, this app gives you insights about your relationship with other people by analyzing messages you have exchanged via messaging apps Line, KakaoTalk and WhatsApp.

Shakr (Korea)

Designed for small business owners, Shake Media allows you to crate a customized video only by choosing templates designed by advertising professionals. Most video clips are available for 10 to 60 US dollars.

<Invited> Keukey (Korea)

Keukey is focusing on making improvements for smartphone keyboards. It aims to improve the smartphone user experience by addressing keyboard and text input problems. Correcting typos without backspace is first solution of the company.

<Invited> Drivemode (USA/Japan)

Recently founded by entrepreneurs from Zipcar and Tesla Motors, Drivemode is a software and hardware product that gives you the coolest technology experience ever using your car and your Android.

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Docomo Ventures starts its third incubation batch of four startups in Tokyo

NTT Docomo Ventures

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.23

Docomo Ventures, the startup-focused investment arm of Japan’s leading telco, has just announced three four startups chosen for the third batch of its incubation program. Chosen startups will be able to obtain grants of up to 5 million yen ($50,000) as well as rewards like a complimentary use of Docomo’s co-working space and mentoring/cooperation from the program’s partnering companies. Here’s a quick rundown on what they are working on. Unlog (literally meaning ‘poo log’) A free iOS app that lets you input details about each poop that you make. You can specify the size, shape, and color of your poops, as well as input how bad it smelled or whether or not you experienced any discomfort. Our readers may recall we have featured this app before. Money Smart A personal finance management platform comparable to an enhanced online account book. But details have not been disclosed. Liquid A payments and reward platform that uses your fingerprint as an authentication token, saving users from having to bring a real wallet or digital wallet when shopping. Details of the forth startup have not been disclosed. These startups will take part in the incubation program starting tomorrow, and their progress during the program period…

docomo-demo-day-broaderview — From the Demo Day event for the previous batch

Docomo Ventures, the startup-focused investment arm of Japan’s leading telco, has just announced ~~three~~ four startups chosen for the third batch of its incubation program.

Chosen startups will be able to obtain grants of up to 5 million yen ($50,000) as well as rewards like a complimentary use of Docomo’s co-working space and mentoring/cooperation from the program’s partnering companies. Here’s a quick rundown on what they are working on.

Unlog (literally meaning ‘poo log’)
A free iOS app that lets you input details about each poop that you make. You can specify the size, shape, and color of your poops, as well as input how bad it smelled or whether or not you experienced any discomfort. Our readers may recall we have featured this app before.
Money Smart
A personal finance management platform comparable to an enhanced online account book. But details have not been disclosed.
Liquid
A payments and reward platform that uses your fingerprint as an authentication token, saving users from having to bring a real wallet or digital wallet when shopping.

Details of the forth startup have not been disclosed. These startups will take part in the incubation program starting tomorrow, and their progress during the program period will be showcased at Demo Day on November 6.

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Seedstars World to hold regional pitch competition event in Tokyo this Friday

SeedStars World

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.22

See the original story in Japanese. Following its first edition last year, Seedstars World is on a global tour to organize a series of regional pitching competition events worldwide. At this event, winners from regional events will be invited to the global final in Geneva, Switzerland, to compete for the top prize, which includes a chance to fundraise up to $500,000 from partnering investors. Retail store analytics solution Locarise won at the regional event in Tokyo last year, and the global top prize went to Kenya-based physical address sharing solution startup OkHi. This year’s Tokyo event will be held this Friday, July 25th, at The Terminal, a co-working space in Harajuku, Tokyo. The event organizer is accepting last-minute applications for presenters and audience members. Seedstars World is hosted by Sandbox, the Europe-based organization comprised of over 800 young entrepreneurs from around the world. Sandbox holds more than 150 entrepreneurship events in 25 countries worldwide annually, with the aim to find prominent startups and to put them in the spotlight, especially through the Seedstars World events. The below video is an interview with last year’s Tokyo chapter winner Locarise. It will be exciting to see who will win the regional top…

See the original story in Japanese.

Following its first edition last year, Seedstars World is on a global tour to organize a series of regional pitching competition events worldwide. At this event, winners from regional events will be invited to the global final in Geneva, Switzerland, to compete for the top prize, which includes a chance to fundraise up to $500,000 from partnering investors.

Retail store analytics solution Locarise won at the regional event in Tokyo last year, and the global top prize went to Kenya-based physical address sharing solution startup OkHi.

ssw-final-onstage — Seedstars World 2013 global event (Geneva, Switzerland)

This year’s Tokyo event will be held this Friday, July 25th, at The Terminal, a co-working space in Harajuku, Tokyo. The event organizer is accepting last-minute applications for presenters and audience members.

Seedstars World is hosted by Sandbox, the Europe-based organization comprised of over 800 young entrepreneurs from around the world. Sandbox holds more than 150 entrepreneurship events in 25 countries worldwide annually, with the aim to find prominent startups and to put them in the spotlight, especially through the Seedstars World events.

The below video is an interview with last year’s Tokyo chapter winner Locarise. It will be exciting to see who will win the regional top award this year. The Bridge is proudly serving the event as a media partner, and we’ll let you know the competition results soon.

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Japan’s social network for teachers ‘Sensei Note’ launches iOS app

Sensei Note

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.21

See the original story in Japanese. Today’s a national holiday in Japan, with nary a story to provide. But, here’s an Extra. Sensei Note, a social network service for teachers in Japan, launched an iOS app today. While their website is developed on a responsive design platform for mobile devices which can be adapted to tablets and PCs, Loupe – the startup behind the service – expects to accelerate user acquisition with the app, especially from mobile users. Its Android version is now being developed, targeting market entry in late July or early August. To grasp attention from teachers who are usually busy working during the week and even on weekends, the company announced the launch of its iOS app on a holiday; most Japanese schools are on summer breaks from this week as well. Since its web app’s official launch back in March, the company surpassed 60% in MAU (monthly active user) ratio which is extremely higher than that in the gaming and e-commerce spaces. According to the company, their eventual PC/mobile usage ratio is almost 50/50, so they expect to increase mobile users by giving them better accessibility with the new mobile app. For teachers who are busy…

See the original story in Japanese.

Today’s a national holiday in Japan, with nary a story to provide. But, here’s an Extra.

Sensei Note, a social network service for teachers in Japan, launched an iOS app today. While their website is developed on a responsive design platform for mobile devices which can be adapted to tablets and PCs, Loupe – the startup behind the service – expects to accelerate user acquisition with the app, especially from mobile users. Its Android version is now being developed, targeting market entry in late July or early August. To grasp attention from teachers who are usually busy working during the week and even on weekends, the company announced the launch of its iOS app on a holiday; most Japanese schools are on summer breaks from this week as well.

Since its web app’s official launch back in March, the company surpassed 60% in MAU (monthly active user) ratio which is extremely higher than that in the gaming and e-commerce spaces. According to the company, their eventual PC/mobile usage ratio is almost 50/50, so they expect to increase mobile users by giving them better accessibility with the new mobile app.

For teachers who are busy at school but cherish their personal time at home, they must make use of their commuting hours. Many teachers who live in rural areas use cars to commute and are unable to make use of the app while driving. However, the improvement in mobile accessibility is seen helping the company acquire more users.

Loupe won top at the Startup Weekend Tokyo event back in November 2012, as well as winning the 8th place at the former event’s global competition Global Startup Battle. The team fundraised over $30,000 through their campaign on Japanese crowdfunding site ReadyFor in 2013, and subsequently obtained government grants from Jump Start Nippon, the entrepreneurship encouragement program by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. If memory serves, they rented a house in Tokyo’s residential district which they share along with the commitment to develop the service under the same roof. They are still a bootstrapping startup, but I assume they will soon start exploring funding opportunities from investment companies using their high MAU ratio as a powerful persuasion tool.

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Japan’s Samurai Incubate and Toyota to hold hackathon event in Israel in October

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.18

Tokyo-based startup incubator Samurai Incubate and Toyota InfoTechnology Center, the R&D arm of Japan’s No. 1 automaker, announced today that they will jointly hold a hackathon in Tel Aviv, Israel, 23–24 October. Samurai Incubate established a local subsidiary in Israel in April, with the aim to help more Japanese companies work with Israeli startups as well as find prominent startups to invest in the startup hub of the Middle East. Toyota InfoTechnology Center has been researching big data solutions leveraging metrics accumulated from more than 100,000 Toyota automobiles. Through the hackathon, the company aims to work with Israeli engineers to co-develop mobile apps using big data. Samurai Incubate founder and CEO Kentaro Sakakibara relocated to Tel Aviv earlier this year, where he recently set up a co-working space called Samurai House to invite startups and entrepreneurs from Japan, Israel, and the rest of world to gather. By lobbying the Israeli government, he wants to encourage their national airline to establish a direct flight connecting Tel Aviv and Tokyo to bridge local startup communities in the two countries. Event details, such as venue and agenda, have not been announced, so check visit their website for more information.

Tokyo-based startup incubator Samurai Incubate and Toyota InfoTechnology Center, the R&D arm of Japan’s No. 1 automaker, announced today that they will jointly hold a hackathon in Tel Aviv, Israel, 23–24 October.

Samurai Incubate established a local subsidiary in Israel in April, with the aim to help more Japanese companies work with Israeli startups as well as find prominent startups to invest in the startup hub of the Middle East.

Toyota InfoTechnology Center has been researching big data solutions leveraging metrics accumulated from more than 100,000 Toyota automobiles. Through the hackathon, the company aims to work with Israeli engineers to co-develop mobile apps using big data.

samuraihouse-telaviv — Samurai House, Tel Aviv

Samurai Incubate founder and CEO Kentaro Sakakibara relocated to Tel Aviv earlier this year, where he recently set up a co-working space called Samurai House to invite startups and entrepreneurs from Japan, Israel, and the rest of world to gather. By lobbying the Israeli government, he wants to encourage their national airline to establish a direct flight connecting Tel Aviv and Tokyo to bridge local startup communities in the two countries.

Event details, such as venue and agenda, have not been announced, so check visit their website for more information.

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KDDI and Global Brain form $50M second fund, strengthening investments in US startups

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.18

Japanese telco KDDI and investment firm Global Brain announced earlier this week that they have jointly formed KDDI Open Innovation Fund II, valued at 5 billion yen ($49.4 million). This follows their previous investment initiative KDDI Open Innovation Fund I which was valued at the same amount and formed back in February 2012. Our readers may recall the telecom company announced that it had partnered with 13 top Japanese companies in their incubation program to strengthen their support in nourishing tech startups and entrepreneurs. We understand that they will use the new fund to invest in prominent startups born out of the program. In addition, the both companies also announced that they have invested 800 million yen ($7.9 million) in four tech companies in the US: Edmondo (social network platform for the educational industry), Issuu (digital publishing and sharing service), Pogoseat (seat upgrade service for live events), and VentureBeat (tech news media). Global Brain recently set up an office in San Francisco and is now closely working with US-based incubators to strengthen their efforts in exploring high-profile startups that they can invest in.

Japanese telco KDDI and investment firm Global Brain announced earlier this week that they have jointly formed KDDI Open Innovation Fund II, valued at 5 billion yen ($49.4 million). This follows their previous investment initiative KDDI Open Innovation Fund I which was valued at the same amount and formed back in February 2012.

Our readers may recall the telecom company announced that it had partnered with 13 top Japanese companies in their incubation program to strengthen their support in nourishing tech startups and entrepreneurs. We understand that they will use the new fund to invest in prominent startups born out of the program.

In addition, the both companies also announced that they have invested 800 million yen ($7.9 million) in four tech companies in the US: Edmondo (social network platform for the educational industry), Issuu (digital publishing and sharing service), Pogoseat (seat upgrade service for live events), and VentureBeat (tech news media). Global Brain recently set up an office in San Francisco and is now closely working with US-based incubators to strengthen their efforts in exploring high-profile startups that they can invest in.

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Japanese fish delivery startup Hachimenroppi secures $4.5 million funding

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.17

Tokyo-based startup Hachimenroppi, which operates a fish delivery service for restaurants, announced today that it has fundraised about 450 million yen (or $4.4 million) from Recruit Holdings, YJ Capital, DeNA co-founder Shogo Kawada, DeNA (TSE:2432), and Monex Ventures.[1] This follows their previous funding worth $1.5 million in October. Since its launch in April 2011, the company has acquired over 1,000 restaurants as users. The company will use the funds to strengthen their teams in sales and system development as well as expanding logistics facilities. Coinciding with the funds raised at this time, Hachimenroppi also announced that they have partnered with Recruit Lifestyle, the Internet service-focused company under Recruit Holdings. Through the partnership, the fish delivery company will integrate their solution with Recruit’s tablet-based POS (point of sales) system AirRegi, where more than 20,000 restaurants using the POS system will have easy access to the startup’s fish ordering system. YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TSE:4689). Monex Ventures is the investment arm of Japanese online brokerage company Monex Group (TSE:8698). ↩

Tokyo-based startup Hachimenroppi, which operates a fish delivery service for restaurants, announced today that it has fundraised about 450 million yen (or $4.4 million) from Recruit Holdings, YJ Capital, DeNA co-founder Shogo Kawada, DeNA (TSE:2432), and Monex Ventures.^[1] This follows their previous funding worth $1.5 million in October.

Since its launch in April 2011, the company has acquired over 1,000 restaurants as users. The company will use the funds to strengthen their teams in sales and system development as well as expanding logistics facilities.

Coinciding with the funds raised at this time, Hachimenroppi also announced that they have partnered with Recruit Lifestyle, the Internet service-focused company under Recruit Holdings. Through the partnership, the fish delivery company will integrate their solution with Recruit’s tablet-based POS (point of sales) system AirRegi, where more than 20,000 restaurants using the POS system will have easy access to the startup’s fish ordering system.

YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TSE:4689). Monex Ventures is the investment arm of Japanese online brokerage company Monex Group (TSE:8698). ↩

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Singapore’s wearable vest startup T.Ware wins top Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2014

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.17

See the original story in Japanese. Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2014 (AEA2014) was held at Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City in a Tokyo suburb yesterday, where Singaporean wearable startup T.Ware won the first prize in the startup pitch competition. This three-day event is organized each year by a local non-profit organization and an incubator as well as the University of Tokyo and Mitsui Fudosan real estate company. Entrepreneurs with promising ideas gathered from all over Asia, where they enjoyed networking and received mentoring, in addition to competing with their pitches against each others. Let’s take a brief look at the top three pitch teams. T.Ware (Singapore) won the top prize and received 3 million yen Singapore’s T.Ware developed a wearable vest called T.Jacket in collaboration with therapists, university researchers and clinical psychologists, aiming to help people suffering from sensory ailments — such as sensory over-responsiveness — through use of controlled air pressure. T.Jacket simulates the feel of being hugged, as controlled by a smartphone app. It helps people recover from mental disorders like sensory processing difficulties (SPD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s dementia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Gissco (Thailand) was the runner-up and received 1 million yen…

See the original story in Japanese.

Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2014 (AEA2014) was held at Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City in a Tokyo suburb yesterday, where Singaporean wearable startup T.Ware won the first prize in the startup pitch competition.

This three-day event is organized each year by a local non-profit organization and an incubator as well as the University of Tokyo and Mitsui Fudosan real estate company. Entrepreneurs with promising ideas gathered from all over Asia, where they enjoyed networking and received mentoring, in addition to competing with their pitches against each others.

Let’s take a brief look at the top three pitch teams.

T.Ware (Singapore) won the top prize and received 3 million yen

Singapore’s T.Ware developed a wearable vest called T.Jacket in collaboration with therapists, university researchers and clinical psychologists, aiming to help people suffering from sensory ailments — such as sensory over-responsiveness — through use of controlled air pressure.

T.Jacket simulates the feel of being hugged, as controlled by a smartphone app. It helps people recover from mental disorders like sensory processing difficulties (SPD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s dementia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Gissco (Thailand) was the runner-up and received 1 million yen

Die casting is a metal casting process that is used upon forming equipment such as an engine. For the conventional die casting process, molten liquid metal is poured into a mold. Given time to cool down, the metal is allowed to settle into shape. But in quite a few instances cracks and other aberrations appear unexpectedly upon forming; this may lead to an inefficiency ratio of up to 30%.

Thailand’s Gissco realized “semi-solid” die casting, which enables quicker settling into shape yet keeps down the appearance of unexpected cracks. The inefficiency ratio thus falls to as low as 10%. The metal need not be heated to the conventional high melting temperature under this method so it takes less time to cool down, improving the productivity of the entire equipment manufacturing process markedly.

YouthsToday (Malaysia) came in third and received 500,000 yen

YouthsToday helps brands or event organizers engage their potential event attendees meeting certain criteria by giving them rewards. Using the platform, brands or organizers can obtain a benefit by engaging influential persons at better cost performance. Users can win rewards like vouchers for H&M fashion retail chain or Starbucks Coffee shops.

The service is still only available for events in Malaysia, but they are planning to expand into other Asian countries, the European region as well as the US.

The AEA event allows entrepreneurs from the Asian region to further market themselves through the pitch competition. Some Japanese firms competed but unfortunately none made it to the finals. As most attending startups had been recommended and backed by local incubators or universities in the respective Asian countries, they were relatively mature enough to offer a solid technology or a monetizable business model.

I think many these days have tended to introduce intangible products on the Asian startup scene. However, this event was a great opportunity where I could meet up with many startups from Asia having solid technical backgrounds.

The application deadline for this competition is set annually in early May. Should you be interested in competing during the 2015 event, remember to check their website next spring and ready yourself to pitch.

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Line reported to submit IPO application to Tokyo Stock Exchange

Line
Naver

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.15

According to several news sources, Line, the Japanese messaging app company and a subsidiary of Korea internet company Naver (TSE:035420), was reported today that it has submitted an IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company and its potential underwriter Nomura Securities have not approved the report. Bloomberg reported last month that Line has been in talk with Morgan Stanley and Nomura Securities to explore possibilities to go IPOs at Tokyo Stock Exchange as well as New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ simultaneously.

According to several news sources, Line, the Japanese messaging app company and a subsidiary of Korea internet company Naver (TSE:035420), was reported today that it has submitted an IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company and its potential underwriter Nomura Securities have not approved the report.

Bloomberg reported last month that Line has been in talk with Morgan Stanley and Nomura Securities to explore possibilities to go IPOs at Tokyo Stock Exchange as well as New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ simultaneously.

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This mobile app from Japan’s Muji helps you relax and sleep wherever

Masaru Ikeda 2014.07.15

Ryohin Keikaku, the Japanese company best known for its consumer goods-focused retail chain Muji, recently introduced a sleep-inducing app called ‘Muji to Sleep‘. It is available in several different languages for Android and iOS. The company introduced a series of neck cushion products last year, which have been getting a good reputation, especially from frequent travelers who take long-haul flights. The mobile app was recently introduced as a sister product of the cushion products. Muji to Sleep offers six different relaxing natural sounds recorded around Japan using the binaural recording method, where the audio frequency gap between left-ear and right-ear channels syncs with the brainwave cycle and induces a sound sleep.

Ryohin Keikaku, the Japanese company best known for its consumer goods-focused retail chain Muji, recently introduced a sleep-inducing app called ‘Muji to Sleep‘. It is available in several different languages for Android and iOS.

The company introduced a series of neck cushion products last year, which have been getting a good reputation, especially from frequent travelers who take long-haul flights. The mobile app was recently introduced as a sister product of the cushion products.

Muji to Sleep offers six different relaxing natural sounds recorded around Japan using the binaural recording method, where the audio frequency gap between left-ear and right-ear channels syncs with the brainwave cycle and induces a sound sleep.

Masaru Ikeda

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