Sojitz Tuna Farm Takashima Corporation (Head Office: Matsuura City, Nagasaki Pref.; Representative Director: Hiroyuki Oonishi; “Sojitz Tuna Farm”), a fully-owned subsidiary of Sojitz Corporation (“Sojitz”), recently won the Runner-Up Prize at the IT Japan Award 2018 event organized by Nikkei Computer, in recognition for Sojitz Tuna Farm’s efforts to use IT in their tuna farming operations.

The IT Japan Award event has been held annually since 2007, as a way to seek out companies which have marked notable achievements in IT system construction/utilization and share their accomplishments with a wider audience. This year, one company was selected for the Grand Prize, with two Runner-Ups and three Honorable Mentions. Each award evaluates companies based on their contribution to business innovation and operational reform; originality in system construction and utilization; and progressiveness of the technologies and methods employed. Sojitz Tuna Farm received the Runner-Up Prize based on the high praise their efforts received for “accurately utilizing IT in an attempt to solve the food and natural resource problems facing Japan today, employing methods which will likely contribute to Japan’s future growth.”

Sojitz Tuna Farm has been developing a bluefin tuna farming business in Takashima, an island located to the north of Nagasaki Prefecture. They were awarded the Runner-Up Prize for their use of IoT and AI in aiming to optimize fish food supply and improve fish counting operations. Sojitz Tuna Farm were assisted by the Sojitz IT Planning Dept.’s “Aggressive IT” Team and an external IT partners, both of whom helped with everything from system proposal to implementation.

Sojitz Tuna Farm believes that these efforts may hold the key to solving the myriad social problems facing Japan’s fishing industry, and they intend to continue utilizing IT towards the realization of a sustainable society.