WIRED Innovation Award 2025 Illuminates Future Visionaries
Pop Icons Perfume Join a Stellar Lineup of 21 Innovators Redefining Tomorrow
The highly anticipated “WIRED Innovation Award 2025,” presented by the media ‘WIRED’ Japan edition in partnership with Sekisui House, held its prestigious ceremony today, December 1st. This year’s event honored 21 trailblazing individuals and groups from diverse fields, with the iconic techno-pop unit Perfume unveiled as the final, celebrated innovator.
The Innovation Award, which first launched in 2016 and recognized 120 innovators over four years until 2019, made a grand return after a six-year hiatus. Re-established with the compelling tagline, “This innovation is for future happiness,” the award seeks to discover new possibilities for human well-being through groundbreaking advancements.
Celebrating Perfume: A Symphony of Tech and Art
Perfume, the beloved trio known for their unique blend of music, lyrics, and dance, was lauded for their pioneering work in fusing music with cutting-edge technology. Their live performances, often developed in collaboration with creative technologists like Rhizomatiks, feature breathtaking motion capture, 3D point cloud, and augmented reality (AR) effects. This creates a “miraculous synchronization” that transcends traditional entertainment, offering a glimpse into the future of live performance. Their journey, spanning 25 years since formation and 20 years since major debut, culminates in their selection as a top innovator, underscoring their enduring impact on global pop culture.
Virtual and Real: Hoshimachi Suisei’s Boundary-Breaking Journey
Among the other distinguished honorees was virtual idol Hoshimachi Suisei, who continues to carve out an undeniable presence in the music scene. With over 2.8 million YouTube subscribers and a smash hit like “Bibideba,” she achieved an unprecedented feat for a VTuber by successfully holding a solo live performance at the Nippon Budokan in February 2025. Her global recognition, including a Bronze Award in the music category at the Clio Awards for her “Bibideba” music video, demonstrates the expanding possibilities of virtual idols worldwide.
Other Visionaries Across Disciplines
The award also recognized a diverse array of innovators, each pushing the boundaries in their respective fields:
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Yoichi Ochiai, the media artist and producer for the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025, was celebrated for his pioneering fusion of digital and material, embodying “Digital Nature” in his “null²” pavilion.
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Author Sayaka Murata, an Akutagawa Prize winner for Convenience Store Woman, was recognized for her profound literary explorations of societal “normalcy” and identity, with her latest work Sekai 99 receiving the 78th Noma Literary Prize.
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Other honorees included Jun Asakawa (Pale Blue) for sustainable space development, breakdancer AMI for her Olympic gold and unique philosophy, Takashi Ikegami for artificial life research, Yusuke Imai (Chance for Children) for child poverty solutions, architects Maki Onishi + Yuki Hyakuda (o+h) for inclusive designs, animation director Kiyotaka Oshiyama for his distinctive aesthetic in Look Back, chef Natsuko Shoji for redefining gastronomy, animal linguist Toshitaka Suzuki for proving bird language, musician TOWA TEI for expanding electronic music, Yuichi Tomohiro & Jun Hachiya (Sea Vegetable) for new seaweed culture, painter Akiko Nakayama for “Alive Painting,” Yosuke Maeda (WOTA) for decentralized water infrastructure, Takaya & Fumiaki Matsuda (Heralbony) for empowering artists with intellectual disabilities, designer Kunihiko Morinaga (ANREALAGE) for fashion innovation, sleep scientist Masashi Yanagisawa for uncovering sleep mechanisms, filmmaker Tomokazu Yamada for cinematic storytelling, and painter Nami Yokoyama for highlighting the invisible in society.
The sheer breadth of this year’s recipients underscores a powerful message: innovation isn’t confined to a single sector. It’s a vibrant, interconnected web of human ingenuity, spanning from the depths of space to the intricacies of human consciousness, and from the grandest architectural visions to the most delicate strokes of paint. “It’s truly inspiring to see how these innovators are not just creating new things, but actively shaping a happier future for all of us,” one observer noted, capturing the collective sentiment of awe and optimism.
Looking Forward: The Future of Kawaii Innovation
The “WIRED Innovation Award 2025” serves as a beacon, highlighting how Japanese innovators are not only at the forefront of technological and artistic advancements but are also profoundly influencing global culture. The recognition of figures like Perfume and Hoshimachi Suisei, who seamlessly blend cutting-edge tech with pop appeal, illustrates a fascinating evolution in how “Kawaii” culture is interpreted and expanded. It’s no longer just about cuteness; it’s about a playful, yet deeply impactful, approach to innovation that resonates globally, inviting audiences to experience the future through a uniquely Japanese lens. This convergence of traditional aesthetics with futuristic vision promises to keep Japan at the heart of global creative discourse for years to come.
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