What does humanity need in the age of AI? TV commercial to be broadcast for Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” – a joint project of four stationery brands　An immersive experience event for the general public and joint exhibition for distributors will be held from June 2026

ASTRUM CORPORATION (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Junichi Ishigaki) will begin broadcasting a TV commercial for Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” – a joint project of four stationery brands: PLUS Stationery, Pentel, The Sailor Pen and Nippon Notebook, nationwide from Friday, May 1, 2026.

The four brands – PLUS Stationery, Pentel, The Sailor Pen and Nippon Notebook – started the Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” project in December 2025 as part of their efforts toward creating new value in the PLUS Group’s stationery business. The Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” project is a project that asks the world, “Isn’t the ability to paint pipe dreams the very seed that moves humanity forward?”

This commercial depicts how the pipe dreams painted by humanity have opened up the world. It traces the journey of how things dismissed as “impossible” – pipe dreams – have built the future. Starting with the expression of prehistoric cave paintings, the wish to “fly freely in the sky” became the airplane, the idea of “wishing to be active at night just like during the day” became the light bulb, and the dream of “wanting to travel through space” became the rocket.
Even in modern times, where AI technology has become widespread and makes it possible to streamline many tasks, “the power to depict what does not exist” is a creativity that only humans can possess. And stationery is what has supported that ability to paint pipe dreams in the most familiar form. As a stationery manufacturer, we believe it is our mission not just to provide tools, but to continue supporting the very power of people to paint pipe dreams freely.
The message Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” embodies our hope that people will rediscover the ability to paint pipe dreams and channel that into creating a better future.

Going forward, we will develop this concept into an immersive experience event for the general public and a four-brand joint exhibition for distributors. Please look forward to what these four brands have in store.

Overview of the TV commercial

・Title: Esoragoto “Dare to Dream”
・Duration: 30 seconds
・Broadcast start date: Friday, May 1, 2026
・Commercial video URL: https://youtu.be/TUANjP7iJUI

・Message
Perhaps castles in the air
may be attainable.
An armchairtheory can becomefact.
Esoragoto holds dreams.
What people laugh at
as impossible is
what creates the future.
The five senses—
something only humans possess,
beyond AI.
Esoragoto “Dare to Dream”

What is the Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” project?

In prehistoric times before the advent of writing, humans drew murals in caves, connected the stars shining in the night sky, and created constellations by drawing the figures of people and animals. Human intelligence may have blossomed from painting such “pipe dreams”.
However, today, people have unknowingly come to live a life of merely chasing given information; and even imagination, creation, and judging the right or wrong of things are swayed by the Internet; we live in a society that relies on AI. At this rate, don’t we risk losing even the fundamental joy of being human and the very meaning of our existence?

The Esoragoto “Dare to Dream” project is a project started with this in mind by four brands – PLUS Stationery, Pentel, Nippon Notebook, and The Sailor Pen – that asks the world, “isn’t the very power to paint pipe dreams (“Esoragoto”) the seed that moves humanity forward?” We believe that stationery is a tool that generates imagination. Precisely because we are involved in stationery, we believe it is our mission to deliver initiatives that help the world regain the ability to paint pipe dreams.

In January 2026, we held “Urban Cave Esoragoto ver. 0” at Hibiya OKUROJI as an experimental invitation-only event where invited guests could experience the concept of Esoragoto “Dare to Dream”. Urban Cave Esoragoto is an installation supervised by Mr. Takayuki Ohira, a creator who continues to produce cutting-edge planetariums, and approximately 1,000 people from both inside and outside the company participated in the event.

Future development

Going forward, we will develop this concept into an immersive experience event for the general public and a four-brand joint exhibition for distributors.

 

1. Urban Cave Esoragoto ver. 1
Event period: Saturday, June 20, 2026, to Monday, July 13, 2026
Venue: Hibiya OKUROJI
Target audience: General public, distributors
How to participate: Advance reservation required
*Event details and information about how to apply will be announced around mid-May.

2. 2026 Team Esoragoto Exhibition
Event period: Thursday, July 2, 2026 and Friday, July 3, 2026
Location: Takeshiba NEW PIER HALL
Target audience: Distributors
How to participate: Invitation only
*This event is not open to the general public.