Q&A

Gil Bashe: You called Converge\OIST the “very first gathering.” Why did Okinawa feel like the right birthplace?

Yasushi Yamamoto: Yes, this is the very first gathering, and we named it Converge\OIST because I’m a big fan of ‘OIST’—the context of the birth, this location, these people. It was the right place and people, a great gathering, and a pleasure to meet old friends in such a beautiful, inspiring place.

Gil Bashe: Your career bridges Tokyo boardrooms and Jerusalem start-ups. Where did your obsession with “convergence” begin?

Yasushi Yamamoto: Innovation cannot be done in an isolated form; it should be done in collaboration with various fields. Professionals with beautiful résumés in Tokyo surround me, but many lack a broader vision. They are so good at something particular, yet it’s a pity they’re busy in silos. I saw the lack of collaboration and started my business, raising money from Japanese corporations for Israeli start-ups. That contrast—dinosaurs with big systems but little ‘challenging spirit’ versus entrepreneurs who ‘run and fix’—motivated me to build synergy between powerful pieces.

Gil Bashe: Modern medicine seems to multiply silos every year. How do you see convergence breaking that pattern?

Yasushi Yamamoto: Medicine has become hyper-specialized. We have gastroenterologists who only look at the upper esophagus or the colon, cardiologists in electrophysiology, and neurologists focused on one nerve pathway. They perfect an art, but they have blinders. Convergence is breaking down those walls.

Gil Bashe: Inviting violinists and AI ethicists to the same podium can feel radical. How did people react when you pitched this mix?

Yasushi Yamamoto: People would never believe me if I hadn’t done serious work in the previous decade. Thanks to that track record, we built trust. Gathering in Okinawa sounded out of context for many professionals, but it wasn’t curiosity but trust that made them come.

Gil Bashe: Every July, you disappear into Kyoto’s 1,200-year-old Gion festival to play the traditional Japanese flute. What does a month of music teach a CEO?

Yasushi Yamamoto: Back home, I’m participating and serving. When I set up my company, I realized it would never be greater than this festival. The experience makes me humble. I received a baton from previous generations and must pass it on to the next. After that month, I ask, ‘Two generations later, how will young people judge the work I’m doing now?’

Gil Bashe: You’ve spoken of building on three “wheels”: science, art, and philosophy. Where is Corundum on that journey?

Yasushi Yamamoto: We started in hardcore science and investment, then gradually expanded to art—like Leonardo da Vinci, artist and scientist in one person. In the coming three to five years, I will put the vehicle of philosophy on top. Combining great minds and spirit, we can create something AI alone cannot deliver.

Gil Bashe: What tangible outcomes do you want from Converge?

Yasushi Yamamoto: First, I want to support OIST, an institution I love. We held the first event there; followed by South by Southwest London. I want more gatherings in multiple locations, bringing talented people with good hearts.

Gil Bashe: You’ve set up subsidiaries for neuroscience, virtual mixed human-data AI, and the microbiome. Why those intersections?

Yasushi Yamamoto: Think of the gut–brain axis. Discovery comes from interaction: AI power, system biology, and the microbiome. Add the element of art to inspire other curious, intelligent people, and the community expands.

Gil Bashe: Food as medicine used to be folk wisdom; you’re turning it into data science. How?

Yasushi Yamamoto: We invested in a project from the Weizmann Institute—the deepest phenotype cohort, hundreds of people over 20 years with genes, metabolites, behavior, nutrition. We link ancient wisdom to ultra-modern science by layering AI on that dataset. We are converging the past, the future, and current ways of life.

Gil Bashe: Philosophy sounds noble, but ventures need cash. How do you square capital with conscience?

Yasushi Yamamoto: I strongly believe in setting vision on a solid philosophical idea, but also in the power of capital. Our job is to propose a hypothesis, bring capital, deploy people, and prove the hypothesis with action. So, we’re raising our next venture fund while creating the Corundum Convergence Institute, a U.S. 501(c)(3), as an alternative financing model to advance science.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Yamamoto-san reframes the entrepreneur’s impossible triangle—mission, money, and meaning—into an orchestral score. Science provides the bass line, art supplies melody, philosophy sets tempo, and well-deployed capital funds the concert hall. As Converge expands from Okinawa to London and beyond, its founder is betting that harmony, not hierarchy, will unlock the next era of precision health.

The takeaway is disarmingly simple for the rest of us: when great minds tune their instruments to work in harmony, the walls separating our disciplines start to fall—and patients everywhere will hear the music of life-sustaining innovation.

According to Gil Granot Mayer, Executive Vice President, Technology Development & Innovation at OIST:

“In just two days, we managed to connect people from different disciplines and geographies, immersing them in the OIST spirit and Okinawa’s culture. From understanding the value of the long tail to different approaches to improving life through the Human Phenotype Project, or the understanding of a new aging mechanism associated with cell membrane damage. I hope that these new connections and cutting-edge talks will spark new collaborations and great results.”

The post Blending Renaissance Thinking and Collaborative Power to Address Global Health Challenges appeared first on Medika Life.

To Harker, the elderly Dracula is well-educated and friendly. Soon, the visitor realizes that he is a prisoner in the castle. Today, I offer you an alternative path to longevity (if not immortality). Rather than go through Transylvania to meet vampires, we go to the remarkable country of Japan.

In the rural northern Okinawan village of Ogimi, there’s a small stone marker with a few sentences written in Japanese.

“At 80, you are merely a youth. At 90, if your ancestors invite you into heaven, ask them to wait until you are 100 — then, you might consider it.”

We have long known about Japanese longevity. The Japanese have lower cancer rates, heart disease, and dementia than those in the United States. The Japanese have the longest life expectancy at birth in the world. Today, I want to share with you some characteristics that likely contribute to their health and longevity.

• Enjoy social interactions. Did you know that the Japanese often have vibrant social circles, with firm commitments to family and friends? For example, moais are social support groups that began in Okinawa, Japan. Parents place young children into these small groups with other children with common interests. The group stays together throughout life. The participants walk with one another, talk together, garden together, eat together, and share life’s joys and challenging experiences. The members of the moai provide one another with lifelong support.
• Embrace ikigai. Can you tell me why you get up each morning? Imbue your life with purpose. What are your values? What do enjoy doing? What do you do well?
• Keep moving. Among older Okinawans, you will find plenty of gardeners and individuals who regularly walk. Enter an Okinawan home, and you may not see much furniture; folks take meals on tatami mats on the floor. By having to get up and down off the floor many times each day, they enhance their balance and lower body strength.

I find it fascinating that the Japanese do not typically work out hardcore at the gym. Some may practice yoga, but the dominant form of physical activity appears to be merely walking. Okinawans are fortunate to have abundant sun (and its associated vitamin D) and lean towards plant-based diets (with lots of tofu, stir-fried vegetables, and sweet potatoes. Maybe you can garden for healthy food, and a bit of activity! For me, it is a reminder that fitness does not always require vigorous exercise.

Are there other zones of longevity across the globe? The island of Okinawa, south of mainland Japan, is one. Different so-called blue zones, defined by National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner include:

• Sardinia, Italy
• Nicoya, Costa Rica
• Ikaria, Greece
• Loma Linda, USA

I look forward to exploring these blue zones with you.

The post 3 Ways to Achieve Longevity the Okinawan Way appeared first on Medika Life.