S.E. Robinson, Jr.

SANU 2nd Home, a Tokyo-based second-home service that operates 41 locations with 251 rooms, is working with SpaceX via Starlink Japan to place Starlink broadband into every unit of SHELL, a new modular cabin set to debut in 2027. The goal is reliable internet deep in nature, where phone and fiber service barely reach. Starlink's antenna placement is planned in the design stage instead of being added after the cabin is built. SHELL is a roughly 100-square-meter wooden cabin with a 9-meter span and no interior columns. More than 90% of it is built in a factory and it goes up on site in about two weeks. The cabins will be sold through SANU's co-ownership program, with shares starting in the ¥5 million range. SANU's co-CEOs are Gen Fukushima and Takahiro Homma. SANU also plans to test Starlink at its existing mountain and island locations where fiber is hard to install.