NTT West’s VOICENCE Company and Ai Kikaku Center—the company responsible for planning and managing the TV anime series *Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi* (Japanese Folktales)—have formed an alliance. As their first joint initiative, they are hosting a pop-up event titled “Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi Exhibition: Once Upon a Time…” at the Azabudai Hills Gallery Space through October 25 (Sunday); admission is free.
The event features attractions designed with an eye toward international expansion, such as multilingual digital signage utilizing officially authorized AI-generated voices based on the show’s original narrators, Etsuko Ichihara and Fujio Tsuneda.
Visitors can scan QR codes displayed on the signage with their smartphones to watch *Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi* videos in multiple languages. The content supports six languages: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean.
Yusuke Shindo of Ai Kikaku Center commented, “We had never taken *Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi* overseas before, but given the global acclaim Japanese anime currently enjoys, we decided to bring the series to the world through multilingual initiatives.”
He expressed satisfaction that the use of authorized AI voices allows them to offer multilingual content while preserving the unique atmosphere that defines *Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi*.
“We would like to consider producing new content using these authorized AI voices in the future,” Shindo added.
By utilizing authorized AI voices, the two companies aim to pass on Japan’s storytelling culture to the next generation and to international audiences, while simultaneously preventing voice tampering and unauthorized voice generation.
Takashi Hanashiro, CEO of NTT West’s VOICENCE Company, stated, “We want to bring Japanese content to the world through the responsible use of AI”

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