COO Susumu Kimura

Position/Name	Chief Operating Officer (COO), Tokyo Office Chief/General Manager Susumu Kimura
Biography	From a young age, Susumu’s dream was to work in a field related to music, which led to the decision to study electronic engineering at a technical university, inspired by a fascination with synthesizers. During college, he formed bands and music units with friends. However, over time, Susumu shifted music to a hobby and developed a growing interest in software, marking the start of his career in the software industry. In his first year at a software development company in Fukuoka, Susumu worked on programming, system demonstrations, and user training, an experience he considers invaluable. This dual role in both development and sales offered a significant learning opportunity. After moving to another company, Susumu worked on developing sales support systems for banks, control systems for mobile base stations, and supply control systems for the Japan Self-Defense Forces, sparking a deep interest in mobile technology. He became particularly fascinated by BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless), and while working on a project developing an RFID tag reader/writer (including drivers) and an electrical inspection app through contract work with electronics manufacturer, he came across NEXT-SYSTEM, a company in Fukuoka specializing in BREW. This led to his first meeting with CEO Yoshio. Susumu’s rare expertise in BREW development made him a valuable collaborator on several projects. However, when his previous company faced financial difficulties following the Lehman Brothers collapse, NEXT-SYSTEM invited him to join as a full-time employee in November 2009. At NEXT-SYSTEM, Susumu initially worked as an engineer developing iPhone apps and tools. However, after the sales planning employee resigned, he took over those responsibilities and began managing external negotiations. During this time, as NEXT-SYSTEM delved into Augmented Reality (AR), Susumu became involved in project production and direction, including creating storyboards. This ability to work on both system/app development and content creation led to opportunities to speak at events like ‘AR Summit Osaka.’ For both NEXT-SYSTEM and Susumu, discovering AR was a step up to a new level. The success of AR development attracted more clients in Tokyo, eventually leading to the establishment of NEXT-SYSTEM’s Tokyo office. In 2011, Susumu began making regular business trips to Tokyo, and by 2012, started working full-time there. In 2013, the Tokyo office was officially launched in Aoyama, and by 2016, the company established its current office and residence in Uehara, Shibuya, where Susumu now focuses on client demos, meetings, and system production and direction. Despite the challenges of working alone, Susumu is excited to be gradually taking on projects related to his original passion for music. He plans to continue pursuing this direction, aiming to combine his expertise in music and video with CEO Yoshio’s vision and NEXT-SYSTEM’s mission of “Turn dreams into reality & create the future.”
Socials	[Twitter] Kimura Yukihiro https://twitter.com/Yuki_BlauGrana [facebook] Kimura Yukihiro https://www.facebook.com/yukihiro.kimura
Birthplace	Kumamoto City, Japan
Date of birth	January 26, 1973
Professional Background	1. Development, operation, maintenance, and sales support for civil engineering cost estimation systems for local governments. 2. Development of banking sales support systems. 3. Development of mobile phone base stations. 4. Development of supply control systems for the Japan Self-Defense Forces. 5. Development of a music player for mobile phones. 6. Production of AR apps for T-Joy Hakata and Ghost in the Shell. 7. Production of AR apps for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. 8. Promotional production for 009 RE:CYBORG (Japanese anime film). 8. Promotional production for Girl Friend Beta (♪). 9. Promotional production for G.F.F.M.C Unicorn Gundam. 10. Production of music video and AR content for Yuji Odoi (Musician, former bassist of the Japanese band ‘The Checkers’). And many more.