#Japan #Tokyo #Open Data #truestar #PODB Plus

Truestar Unveils PODB Plus: A Leap Forward in Open Data

On September 1, 2025, Truestar, based in Shibuya, Tokyo and led by CEO Toshikuni Fujita, announced the official launch of their new service, PODB Plus. This service is a paid extension of the existing open data platform, Prepper Open Data Bank (PODB), designed to accelerate the utilization of open data by offering enhanced features and functionalities. Additionally, a dedicated landing page (LP) showcasing the service was released simultaneously.

What is PODB Plus?

PODB Plus builds upon the free version of PODB, expanding the range of open data provided by including more granular geographic units (such as neighborhoods and meshes), offering more frequent updates, and introducing additional data categories. The service is specifically tailored to aid businesses in conducting advanced analyses related to demand forecasting, market analysis, location planning, area marketing, and the application of public and private data.

Example Data Offered

• - Employee statistics for around 2 million companies, including approximately 3,000 publicly traded firms in Japan
• - Detailed information on about 900,000 restaurants nationwide (including names, addresses, genres, estimated opening dates, and closure flags)
• - Hourly weather data showcasing both historical and forecasted conditions

Key Use Cases

• - Demand Forecasting & Market Analysis: Combining foot traffic with statistical data to improve accuracy.
• - Location Planning & Area Marketing: Comprehensive analysis across train stations, land prices, and public infrastructure.
• - Public and Private Data Utilization: Quick analysis for policy evaluation, understanding regional characteristics, and disaster/weather-related studies.

Development Background

While open data holds significant value, challenges have arisen regarding the burden of data collection, preprocessing, and structuring, leading to long lead times before practical application. Truestar's previous service, PODB, transformed public open data into a readily usable format via platforms like Snowflake Data Marketplace, drastically reducing the time required for analysis. With the release of this new landing page, users can now quickly grasp the value of PODB Plus thanks to an organized flow of information detailing high granularity, frequent updates, and expanded data categories.

About the Special LP

To make the service's full scope easily understandable, Truestar launched a user-friendly landing page. This dedicated site lists the data granularity, update frequency, implementation flow, and use cases for quick understanding of the service's value. Moving forward, Truestar plans to enhance the LP further with demo videos, case studies, and a comprehensive data catalog. You can find the special site for PODB Plus here.

About Truestar

Founded in May 2015, Truestar specializes in accelerating decision-making through data and technology. Their mission emphasizes supporting companies in achieving data-driven decision-making. In addition to providing data engineering, visualization, data science, and training, Truestar is also committed to promoting the utilization of open data via their proprietary data product, PODB.

Company Name: Truestar Co., Ltd.
CEO: Toshikuni Fujita
Location: 8F VORT Ebisu, 3-9-19 Higashi, Shibuya, Tokyo
Website: Truestar Co., Ltd.

For Inquiries

For any questions regarding this release, please contact our marketing department directly at [email protected] or for various solutions, reach our sales department at [email protected].