NFT Breakthrough in Japanese Countryside
Population loss and aging are thorny issues faced rural areas in Japan. According to a report on “digital citizens” by the Japanese consultancy firm Yuri Group, the population living in rural Japan has decreased to only about % since the 2010s, with a majority being elderly people, leading to gradual disappearance of villages.
To address this situation, Yamakoshi Village in Naga City is using NFT (non-fungible tokens) technology and DAO (deized autonomous organization) to attract digital villagers as a way of combating population loss, aging and marginalization caused by village destruction after earthquakes.
In 2021, Yamak Village launched an art NFT series featuring koi fish (Nishikigoi), which serves as both proof of identity for “digital villagers” governance tokens for DAO. This means that those holding koi fish NFTs can in voting or express their opinions on village matters involving both local residents and digital villagers.
ably, besides local residents of Yamakoshi Village receiving NFTs for free, around the world can become a digital villager of Yamakoshi Village by purchasing koi fish Ns. The funds raised from selling NFTs will be used to support middle-aged and elderly residents (56.2% are over 65 years old), village operations, and local school activities.
Yamakoshi Village hopes by granting others voting rights in community-related affairs through these NFTs, distant digital can establish an emotional connection with local residents while actively caring about this village with only 740 inhabitants.
According to Yuri’s report, koi fish NFTs have raised over $400,000 for Yamakoshi Village so far and there are approximately 1,700 digital villagers who own these tokens. Takeuchi, the initiator of this project also stated there have been six votes conducted by holders of these NTF tokens up until now.
Further Reading:
Japan’s Growing Blockchain Development How Can Games & Anime IPs Gain Advantage? Analysis Reveals Three Major Advantages Leading Way
