In this blog, I want to touch on two topics: recent recognition of Sony and examples of Reality & Real-Time technology.

■ External Evaluation of Our Company

Recently, Sony was recognized as one of the "2019 World's Most Ethical Companies" by the Ethisphere Institute, a US-based organization that defines and advances the standards of ethical business practices worldwide. In Sony's Purpose & Values I also identified "Integrity & Sincerity" as one of our core values. As this award honors companies exemplifying outstanding results in the areas of transparency, integrity, ethics, and compliance, I am very happy that our consistent efforts in this area have been highly recognized. However, initiatives on corporate ethics are something that can never be completed, and making these efforts and attitudes sustainable will require a high level of awareness and consistent effort from all Group employees. I want to continuously work together with all of you so that Sony remains one of the world's most ethical company.

■ External Evaluation for Kando Content

In addition to this recognition from a corporate perspective, I was also pleased by the recent news of awards given to Sony's Pictures, Music, and Games businesses for the creation of kando content.

As shared on Inter Sony, the Oscar® for Best Animated Feature Film at the 91st Annual Academy Awards® went to "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," an incredible honor for Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Columbia Pictures, pillars of Sony Pictures Entertainment's (SPE) Motion Picture Group.

This is SPE's first time being honored with a win in this category and its second nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. In addition, the film has also picked up 54 awards to-date worldwide, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Animated and seven Annie Awards. The image of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, two producers of the film, taking the stage at our CES press conference is still fresh in our minds, and it was a happy coincidence that Pharrell Williams, who appeared on the same stage that day, was one of the presenters of the Oscar® to Phil and Chris and the entire "Spider-Verse" team at the Academy Awards® ceremony.

Kristine Belson, President of Sony Pictures Animation
speaking at the CES press conference

In Music, Sony Music Entertainment (SME) artist Childish Gambino took home two of the night's top four honors at the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards, winning Record of the Year and Song of the Year. And the awards for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance went to H.E.R., SME's new talent and rising star.

With SME CEO, Rob Stringer, at the GRAMMY Awards Ceremony

And in Games, "God of War," developed by Santa Monica Studio of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), won Best Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, and Best Action Adventure Game at The Game Awards 2018, held this past December. At the same event, SIE Japan Studio's "Astro Bot: Rescue Mission" took home the win for Best VR/AR Game.

God of War (C) 2018 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC.	ASTRO BOT：RESCUE MISSION (C) 2018 Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

The awards I mentioned here are just a few examples out of the many, the creators of our film, music, animation, and games industries have received. It brings me great joy to see these achievements, and I want to congratulate everyone who contributed in the content creation process. I would like to encourage you to keep fostering your relationships with the visionary creators and continue creating kando content that touch people's hearts.

■ Reality/Real-Time Technology

Let me change topics here and talk about two recent experiences I have had as examples of Reality and Real-Time Technology.

One of the indispensable elements for creating TV shows and movies is the set. When I visited Los Angeles to attend the recent GRAMMY Awards Ceremony, I also stopped by Innovation Studios, located in the SPE studio lot. There, I experienced a demo of the virtual sets for the Sony Pictures Television's hit reality show "Shark Tank" and the upcoming "Men In Black: International," both of which were scanned in ultra-high definition. My last visit to Innovation Studios was last June, and this visit proved to be a valuable opportunity to experience the evolution of point cloud technology firsthand. I believe that demand for virtual sets will accelerate moving forward, and today, it has already become one of the prime examples of Sony's Reality technology. Incidentally, the point cloud technology used in scanning these virtual sets is achieved in collaboration with a startup company from the US West coast.

With Innovation Studios President, Glenn Gainor

Next is Real-Time technology, and the key example in this domain is "α". At CP+, the world's premier camera and photography show held in Yokohama, Japan, I took a look around our latest products (α6400 mirrorless camera, FE 135mm F1.8 GM E-Mount lens, etc.) being showcased at the Sony booth. I also saw the full-frame mirrorless camera offerings from our competitors, who have been entering the market one after another since the start of the year. I believe it is the power of Sony's technology including the CMOS sensor that allows us to develop products that none of our competitors can match.

Generally speaking, larger image sensors are able to capture more light, resulting in higher picture quality and image sensors are offered in sizes such as full-frame, APS-C, and 1.0-type. The RX10 IV which I will touch upon later utilizes the 1.0-type sensor, α6400 uses the APS-C, and α9 employs the full-frame image sensor.

In order to experience the power of Sony's imaging technologies firsthand, I took the opportunity to capture the decisive moment of a soccer game from very high up in the stands with the help of an Sony Imaging Products & Solutions employee. I primarily used the digital still camera RX10 IV. It comes with both 24fps continuous shooting functionality and a built-in high magnification zoom lens (24-600mm, F2.4-4.0), which allowed me to take crystal-clear pictures of the person next to me in the stands as well as the athletes down on the field. And I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try out α9 as well. I will not post the pictures I took of the athletes due to image rights issues, but I will say I was more than pleased with the quality of the results. Going forward, I would like to create opportunities like this to try out a variety of our products.

Shooting with RX10 IV	Shooting with α9 and FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS G-Master lens.