Yuru Music's KPI is to increase "the number of smiles".

The beginning of Yuru Music can be traced back to the first meeting between Kaji and Tomohiro Sawada, president of the World Yuru Sports Association. "There are many people who have given up playing musical instruments for various reasons, including physical ability. I hope to reverse this trend by applying the knowledge I have gained from the World Yuru Sports Association to the world of music." Hearing these words from Sawada, whom he had met before joining SMEJ, Kaji proposed "Yuru Music" to SMEJ as part of an internal open call for new project ideas. With the addition of other employees who joined the team as a result of that open call, he held the project's first event in April 2019, and SMEJ participated in the World Yuru Music Association in a role responsible for instrument development and sound production.

The key performance indicator, or KPI, for Yuru Music's activities is to increase the number of smiles on the faces of people who come into contact with Yuru Musical Instruments. Kaji recalls that his idea was inspired by an encounter with a boy with visual impairment. At one event, the boy was interested in the instruments, and when Kaji asked him to improvise and participate in a children's ensemble program, he couldn't contain his happiness.
"The family was thrilled to see their son so happy, and the Sony employees were also moved. At that moment, I strongly felt that the significance of Yuru Music is to take these small`I did it!' moments that are usually overlooked, or in other words, the smiles caused by moments of success, and turn them into big Kando (emotion)."

"Ultra Light Saxophone" and "Hug Drum" developed through Group collaboration

In the beginning, only about ten SMEJ employees were involved in Yuru Music. Today, many employees not only from SMEJ but also from other Sony Group companies have become involved in this project to bring the Kando of musical experiences to people around the world.

In particular, the technologies and technological expertise of Sony Group have been of great help in the development of Yuru Musical Instruments.
For example, the "Ultra Light Saxophone," with which people can produce saxophone-like tones simply through humming, is equipped with SPRESENSE™, an IoT board computer developed by Sony Semiconductor Solutions.

SPRESENSE, with its power-saving yet high computing power, performs edge AI processing on the performer's humming picked up by the microphone to detect the pitch in real time, which is then converted into a saxophone-like sound. With the technical support of SPRESENSE, the instrument does not require any complicated key presses, and is close to being an instrument that can be played by anyone, including the visually impaired, the elderly, and young children.

Another necessary element to developing an instrument that everyone could enjoy was design. Kaji reflects, "Through the development of the Ultra Light Saxophone, I realized the importance of design as an entry point for people to become intuitively interested in musical instruments." Therefore, for the "Hug Drum," which was developed in 2024, the Sony Group's Creative Center was involved from the initial research stages in the development and was concerned not only with the design of the instrument itself, but also with curating the experience of performing with it.

The Hug Drum is a percussion instrument that allows the people, including those with hearing impairments, to enjoy playing together, as the sound of striking the drum is also expressed through light and vibration. When the user strikes the drum with the palm of the hand, the surface emits light, and at the same time the sound is transmitted directly to the body through vibrations created by a vibration speaker located in in the body of the drum, which makes contact with the user's torso. At the same time, the music of the other people playing along can be felt through vibrations in the outer part of the drum, which can be felt with the user's hands.

The form and design of the Hug Drum were developed through the "inclusive design" method, in which products and services are created together with people who have diverse needs, such as people with disabilities and the elderly, and their feedback is reflected in the final product. Yuru Music worked with Sony/Taiyo Corporation, a special subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation where 60% of the employees are people with disabilities, and other people with disabilities to gather diverse feedback through workshops and research, to develop a percussion instrument that could be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Then, through a series of prototypes, members from inside and outside the company worked together to devise a design that reflected their ideas about the optimal shape, size and functionality of the instrument.

"I'll be happy if I can do it, but it's fun even if I can't." - Yuru Music is underlined by this concept, a favorite idea of Kaji. In an ensemble performance using Hug Drums, when everyone hits the drum at the same time, the light is also emitted at the same time, creating quite a beautiful sight. But even if the timing of hitting the drum is not perfect, the light will be emitted at different times, which can also be very beautiful. So, even if you can't play as well as you expect, you can still enjoy yourself, and your enjoyment will spread to those around you. This is what Yuru Music is all about.

Kando experiences spread around the world through diverse employees and global partners

Yuru Music's activities are not limited to Japan but in fact are spreading all over the world.
Hackathon events to develop Yuru Musical Instruments have been held in India, Shanghai, and other parts of the world, resulting in the creation of new instruments. Some of the instruments that won top prizes at hackathons in Japan and abroad have since been improved upon and are still in use as Yuru Musical Instruments.

Most recently, in September of this year, SMEJ held its first hackathon in the UK. Approximately 70 employees from Group companies in Europe and Japan from a variety of business areas came together to work with professional musicians with disabilities, as well as organizations with experience in developing musical instruments for people with disabilities, to design and develop state-of-the-art assistive musical instruments.

Kaji emphasizes that Yuru Music is an endeavor that leverages Sony's strengths.
"Sony has Group companies all over the world, so we are able to connect and collaborate with a diverse range of employees and partners, both in Japan and in other countries. And because we have both entertainment and technology, the cross-fertilization of the two further broadens the scope of Yuru Music's activities."

Devoted to bringing smiles and the joy of playing music to as many people as possible

Kaji describes the hackathons, which have been held eight times so far, "important opportunities to connect with various employees of Sony Group companies," and expresses his desire to continue the hackathon in the future, "We would like to continue these events, as it will lead to the discovery of new technologies and the consideration of potential applications for Yuru Music."
Improvements are still being made in the development of the musical instruments, such as making the Hug Drum more light weight. The purpose of these improvements is to make the instrument easier and comfortable to play for everyone and accessible to a wider range of people such as children, the elderly and people with disabilities. In the future, SMEJ is also considering introducing Yuru Musical Instruments to nursing homes.

"I am very happy that we have been able to create these small 'I did it!' moments in various parts of the world," says Kaji. "I believe that what we need to do now is to make the smiles and Kando experience by this unique Sony initiative even bigger."