Suita, Osaka Jul 28, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Inazuma Inc., a software and publishing company in Suita, Osaka, released ePaperCraft SHIRYU for Windows on Steam worldwide on July 23, 2026. The program lets users build simple 3D models, convert them into printable nets, and assemble the printed pieces with scissors and glue.
Developer Takahiro Yonemura has worked on SHIRYU for more than 20 years. An earlier Japanese edition, “Shiryu,” received a Jury Selection honor in the Entertainment Division of the 10th Japan Media Arts Festival. The Steam release comes with more than 70 models, including animals, vehicles and fantasy creatures. Users can also make their own block-based designs.
More Than 20 Years of Development
Yonemura holds a doctorate in engineering. He also filed a Japanese patent application covering SHIRYU's solid-model drawing technology (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-309363). He continued to update the program after the festival award.
SHIRYU uses a computer for design, but the finished object is made by hand. Users print the net, cut out the pieces, fold them and apply glue. Releasing the program on Steam makes the software available to users outside Japan without changing that hands-on process.
A Doctorate in Engineering and a Failing Grade in English
Yonemura calls generative AI his “clumsy staff officer.”
He once received a failing grade in English. Years later, he began using generative AI to prepare proposals and correspondence for companies overseas. He still writes the stories and makes the product decisions himself. When a proposal is rejected, he revises it and tries again.
That work led to U.S. publishing agreements with San Francisco-based eigoMANGA for English editions of his science-fiction manga Beast Code and Recycled Brain. Anime News Network reported on the Recycled Brain agreement.
“I Am Jealous of AI”
Yonemura says he is jealous of AI because it can finish a task before his instant noodles are ready and sometimes produce a better result. He uses that reaction as a reason to test the technology more closely.
He gives generative AI difficult assignments and records when it loses context, fabricates information or fails to finish. He jokingly calls this “a hobby of bringing out AI's clumsy side.” He has also published Japanese academic work on the limitations of generative AI.
Yonemura has applied the same experimental approach to music. Under the name A-Rumenoy, he trained AI systems on barks and howls from his Scottish Terrier, Scobee, and used the dog's voice to build a singing voice.
Software and Science Fiction
In summer 2026, Yonemura is also publishing a two-volume Japanese-language science-fiction novel, The Mechanism of Intelligent Life (an English rendering of the Japanese title), through Ginga Kikaku.
The two volumes are Adam's Paradise: Empire of Reason Without Instinct (ISBN 978-4-909793-32-4) and Eve's Prayer: A Future for Beasts with Hearts (ISBN 978-4-909793-33-1). The novels examine intelligence, reason and instinct through synthetic dragon-like life forms and humans.
The software and the novels grew from the same research interest. SHIRYU turns a digital model into a paper object. The novels examine intelligence and AI through fiction.
Yonemura on AI and Working Overseas
“AI makes me jealous. It can finish something before my instant noodles are ready, and sometimes it does a better job. That reaction makes me test it carefully. I decide what the work is about, then use AI where it helps, especially when I need to communicate overseas.
“I run a very small company and do not have an overseas office. I keep making things and sending them out. The AI sidekick is clumsy, but it helps. I only hope there are not hundreds of mad scientists doing the same thing.”
About Takahiro Yonemura
Takahiro Yonemura earned a doctorate in engineering from Kindai University in 2003. He founded Inazuma Inc. in 2001 and works as an author, software developer and educator. Based in Suita, Osaka, he has developed software, written manga and novels, taught programming and mathematics, researched generative AI, and released music internationally.
His research record is available on researchmap, the researcher directory operated by the Japan Science and Technology Agency.
Takahiro Yonemura on researchmap
Media Contact
Takahiro Yonemura, Ph.D. info@inazuma7.com Suita, Osaka, Japan https://www.inazuma7.com/index_eng.html
