I Left Japan to Build a Trust-Based Internet — And Accidentally Invented the Most Meaningful Way to Share Moments Online
I left Japan with my family to build a trust-based web infrastructure — but while prototyping a scheduling tool, I accidentally created something far more personal: a new way to deliver emotion online.
I’ve devoted my life to making the internet a fun and meaningful place again.
My ultimate goal is to help shift the foundation of our economic system—from one based on capital and external assets, to one based on trust, ability, and personal integrity. Instead of a system where value is detached from the person, I want to create a world where value is the person.
To do this, I created WebPass, a new kind of digital ID system that lets individuals carry their trust, activities, and credibility with them across the web. It’s like a passport for your online identity, built for a future where trust matters more than clout.
But building a global infrastructure like WebPass is expensive. I didn’t have the capital.
Worse, Japan—my home country—is often deeply skeptical and conservative when it comes to new technology and ideas. So, in April 2024, I left Japan with my family and moved to the Netherlands.
To survive and self-fund the future I believe in, I began working on a side project.
That project became UPT.
At first, UPT was just a tool to help coordinate time across time zones—a lightweight way to make scheduling easier when working with collaborators in Japan and North America.
But as we used it more, something unexpected happened.
To help people share time effortlessly across apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger, I designed UPT as a tiny app that could be embedded anywhere. But then I realized: if I could also embed videos, music, or messages—suddenly it wasn’t just a scheduling tool.
It could be a gift.
A digital object filled with meaning. A kind of letter that opens with sound and motion and feeling. I called it a LiveCard.
And then something beautiful happened.
I used UPT to make a LiveCard for my wife—just to say thank you.
I embedded a short video into the LiveCard, framed by a quiet interface of simple icons, and in the video I asked her:
“Do you remember where we had our first date?”
I didn’t say the name of the place. I just asked her to tap the Google Maps icon inside the card.
She did.
Then, she tapped the phone icon—also inside the LiveCard—and called me.
Everything happened inside that one card.
The video, the icons, the sequence—it all became a single stage.
It felt like a scene. A moment. A memory, reawakened.
And that’s when I realized:
This isn’t just a scheduling tool anymore.
This is something else entirely.
Before smartphones, we used to put real emotion into even a single text message.
We used to ask, “Who should I send this to? How should I deliver it?”
The act of delivering itself was exciting.
Now, in the age of algorithmic convenience, that joy has been buried.
We broadcast everything, but forget to deliver something real to someone we love.
I want to bring back the joy of delivering.
To make sending something feel magical again—for both the sender and the receiver.
And strangely enough, this mission—delivering moments that matter—is deeply aligned with the values of WebPass.
UPT doesn’t ask people to download a new app.
Instead, it works with the tools people already use—LINE, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and more.
A LiveCard opens with sound, moves with light, and holds a message at its heart.
Because it’s embeddable anywhere, something else emerged:
You can take a LiveCard you received and move it. Scrap it. Save it. Share it again.
It’s like having living links you can touch, store, and gift.
Imagine:
You find a LiveCard with a music playlist and pin it to your blog
You save a LiveCard invite to your calendar
You send a LiveCard thank-you to a friend
You turn your message into a printed card and give it to someone you care about
It’s a richer kind of sharing—one filled with intention.
And it came from something I built by accident.
I didn’t plan this.
I just built what I needed, step by step.
And then one day, I realized: I had created something beautiful.
Please try UPT for yourself.
It’s not something you can fully understand until you experience it.
🕊️ UPT is a web app. No installation needed.
https://upt.kinois.net
📍 Official site: https://www.ufo-penguins.com
