At the latest CEATEC technology fair in Japan, everything old seemed new again.

For one thing, the country’s main gadget and technology showcase returned after a hiatus due to the pandemic. On the other hand, the most popular booth seemed to have been teleported from the early 1990s: legions of high school students queued to buy time in a virtual reality headset that gave the illusion of climbing neon-colored walls in a space of fancy. The difference this time was the brand: now it’s the metaverse.

Japan could gain a leg up in this burgeoning field of immersive online worlds given the popularity of anime characters and virtual idols in the nation – witness the rise of avatar-style fictional YouTube celebrities such as virtual singers Hatsune Miku or Kizuna AI, each with hundreds of…