Japan Gets Its Own ‘Metaverse Economic Zone,’ With Help From Fujitsu

Mitsubishi, Fujitsu and Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) are just some of the big names involved

article-image

Vectorpocket/Shutterstock.com modified by Blockworks

share

The next wave of metaverse development is taking off in Japan.

Mitsubishi and Fujitsu are among the sizable Japanese tech companies working to build the “Ryugukoku,” or “Japanese Metaverse Economic Zone.”

The idea is to power Japan through the development of next-generation games. Companies will use their respective technologies and areas of expertise to design the social infrastructure for the metaverse. 

Areas of focus will include enabling interoperability, gamification, fintech and information communications technology (ICT).

End users will have the chance to engage in the metaverse through role-playing game (RPG) characters, who will be able to participate in different virtual worlds and move across realms in the metaverse. 

Read more: The Architect’s Guide to Building in the Metaverse

Security will also be a significant focus for Ryugukoku. Major Japanese financial institutions, corporations and TBT Lab Group will collaborate to ensure user identity authentication, payments and data infrastructure insurance are in place. 

Although the project will initially begin within the island nation, there are plans to eventually move “to companies and government agencies outside of Japan.” Hajime Tabata, a game creator and Web3 adviser for the Japanese government, first introduced the concept.

There isn’t much mention of crypto or blockchain in Fujitsu’s accompanying release, but it does make reference to NFTs in the context of digital ownership.

Despite being an early adopter, Japan has been relatively strict in regulating cryptocurrencies. It was one of the first countries to draw up regulations around stablecoin issuance.

The move to create an interoperable metaverse comes soon after the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan published a proposal on Web3 policy.

“This is an opportunity for Japan to vigorously promote the development of an internationally competitive web3 business environment as a part of its national strategy, and to demonstrate leadership in international regulatory discussions,” the proposal said. 

“Now is the time for the public and private sectors to gather their knowledge and expertise to make Japan the global hub of responsible innovation.”


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the On the Margin newsletter.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

MON - TUES, OCT. 7 - 8, 2024

Blockworks and Bankless in collaboration with buidlbox are excited to announce the second installment of the Permissionless Hackathon – taking place October 7-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve partnered with buidlbox to bring together the brightest minds in crypto for […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Permissionless is a conference for founders, application developers, and users. Come meet the next generation of people building and using crypto.

recent research

Research Report Templates (1).png

Research

Solana Mobile is a highly ambitious foray into the mobile consumer hardware market, seeking to open up a crypto-native distribution channel for mobile-first applications. The market for Solana Mobile devices has demonstrated a phenomenon whereby external market actors (e.g. Solana-native projects) continuously underwrite subsidies to Mobile consumers. The value of these subsidies, coming in the form of airdrops, trial programs, and exclusive NFT mints, have consistently covered the cost of the phone and generated positive returns for consumers. Given this trend in subsidies, the unit economics in the market for Mobile devices, and the initial growth rate and trajectory of sales, it should be expected that Solana mobile can clear 1M to 10M units over the coming years. As more devices circulate amongst users, Solana Mobile presents a promising venue for the emergence of killer-applications uniquely enabled by this mobile-first, crypto-native distribution channel.

article-image

Crypto’s Wild West era is over — it’s time to embrace regulation to secure the future of digital assets

article-image

Plus, Solana has now surpassed Ethereum in trailing 30-day decentralized exchange volume

article-image

Polymarket betters say Kamala Harris has better odds than Biden of winning against Trump

article-image

Bitcoin’s down Tuesday, while ETH-correlated assets like ENS and ARB see growth

article-image

Plus, let’s check on the nine ether ETFs now trading on US exchanges