SBI to locate its site in Tokyo’s Odaiba! Invest 350 billion yen to build a Japan version of Sphere, running tokenization technology in parallel

Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings announced on March 31 that it has begun cooperation negotiations with Madison Garden in the United States, evaluating the construction of a large immersive spherical venue in Japan. The goal is to create a Japanese version of the well-known Las Vegas “Sphere” at Tokyo Odaiba, targeting younger audiences and visitors traveling to Japan to expand into an entirely new customer base.

SBI chooses Odaiba as the site, splashing 350 billion yen to build Japan’s Sphere

According to the plan, the venue would be located in Tokyo Odaiba, with an estimated construction cost of about 350 billion yen (around $2.2 billion). However, influenced by global inflation and fluctuations in construction costs, the final amount may be revised upward to nearly 500 billion yen. The venue design will use a fully enclosed spherical structure, equipped with a 360-degree LED display system, focusing on immersive visual experiences and large-scale concerts, with an expected capacity of about 20,000 people.

SBI Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao emphasized that this project is a core plan that the company must push forward no matter what, and he stated plainly that it will be used to build a new customer base while generating synergistic effects with its existing financial businesses. The company also said that the venue is expected to become an important vehicle for the Japanese government’s “Cool Japan” strategy, leveraging IPs such as anime, games, and music to create a new-generation large-scale content experience platform.

SBI plans to combine Tokyo Sphere with asset tokenization

In addition to the venue itself, SBI has also clearly outlined an integration direction of “finance + entertainment.” According to reports, the company plans to combine entertainment assets with digital financial instruments, including digital securities and asset tokenization, to develop new investment products and revenue streams. It will also establish a steady cash flow through daily, routine programming arrangements, rather than relying on one-time large events.

On the level of capital and industry cooperation, SBI simultaneously announced that it will acquire approximately 0.7% equity in Tokyu Fudosan Holdings within 2026. The latter will also contribute 5 billion yen to a newly established entertainment industry fund of SBI with a scale of 100 billion yen, and provide its experience in operating entertainment facilities. SBI said that in the future, depending on the progress of the cooperation, it will further increase its stake, which could potentially rise to about 1.4%.

This article SBI chooses Tokyo Odaiba! Splashes 350 billion yen to build Japan’s version of Sphere, alongside tokenization technology, first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.