(Bloomberg) -- Daiwa Securities Group Inc. has created its own metaverse for employees to interact with one other on a virtual moon landing, in part so that they can learn first-hand about the technology.

Japan’s second-largest brokerage opened the virtual space this week for staff and their families, as part of its 120th-anniversary celebrations. While it’s partly an educational experience, the company’s main goal is to encourage workers to bond more, said Chiharu Mori, a human resources director.

Daiwa is joining Japanese rivals Nomura Holdings Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. in exploring how the metaverse could reshape the way they and their clients do business. Globally, companies and investors poured about $120 billion into the virtual world in the first five months of 2022, more than double the $57 billion invested in all of 2021, according to a June report by management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

In Daiwa’s metaverse, its more than 15,000 staff worldwide can manipulate avatars on the virtual moon. They can chat with colleagues at a bar over a digital beer, listen to Chief Executive Officer Seiji Nakata make a speech in a theater, and tour a replica of the firm’s old headquarters. 

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