Why did the Japanese government start promoting the “Web3 policy”?Summary of important points and related news

What is Web 3.0

Web3.0 (Web3) is a non-centralized Internet that utilizes public blockchains (permissionless decentralized networks). Use cases such as financial and asset transactions using NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and crypto assets (virtual currencies), and autonomous operation of organizations (DAO) are emerging one after another. have access to

Wen 2.0 has enabled two-way communication between information senders and viewers, but capital has been invested in platformers such as GAFAM (a collective term for US IT giants Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft). and added value tends to be concentrated.

On the other hand, Web 3.0 is also an opportunity for Japan, which has long faced the problem of declining economic power and competitiveness, in that it makes it easier to expand its business globally. In addition to pop culture (popular culture) such as anime, manga, and games, there is an aspect that has a high affinity with Japan, where the IP (intellectual property rights) layer of the content industry such as gourmet and local tourism experiences is strong.

In order to create new value and accelerate innovation, the challenge is to develop an environment such as a legal system that is suitable for companies and individuals to advance into Web 3.0. Related ministries and agencies are considering measures to develop human resources who will lead innovation in Japan and attract them from overseas.

1. Long-term stagnation of Japan’s GDP
2. Promotion of Web 3.0 policy by the Japanese government
3. List of Japanese government trends and news related to Web 3.0
4. Introduction of major domestic web 3.0 related projects
5. Web3 large-scale conference “WebX” hosted by CoinPost

Long-term stagnation of Japan’s GDP

Since the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, the Japanese economy has generally continued to grow at a low rate, which is why it is also called the “lost 30 years.”

Over the past 30 years, the world economy has witnessed a full-scale information revolution, and major countries such as the United States, China, India, and Singapore have made great strides. According to a report compiled by Professor Akihiko Shinozaki of the Graduate School of Economics at Kyushu University based on the IMF’s World Economic Outlook Databases, China, which was only a quarter of Japan in 1980, increased its GDP in 40 years. It has grown 46 times, and is now 2.7 times the size of Japan, making it the second largest in the world after the United States.

On the other hand, the Japanese economy, which was so successful in the 1980s that it was dubbed “Japan as No. 1,” has been unable to change its industrial structure due to its past successes.

As a result, Japan’s GDP, which boasted the world’s second largest economy until the 1990s, has leveled off since the middle of the 1990s, being overtaken by China and India, and is currently ranked fourth in the world.

The same is true for per capita GDP (dollar base), an index that indicates income levels and affluence. According to Professor Shinozaki, Japan climbed to third place in 1995 and second place in 2000, but now falls outside the top 20.

Internal factors behind the decline in Japan’s income level include problems such as an aging population, a decline in the labor force, and a declining population. As for external factors, energy shocks originating from overseas and heightened uncertainty have caused exchange rate fluctuations in the direction of yen depreciation, resulting in the highest price rise in 40 years, and the expansion of service exports has become an issue.

As the business environment for Japanese companies becomes increasingly severe, drastic reform of the industrial structure is required in order to win the competition with digital companies around the world.

In order to capture overseas demand by strengthening trade and investment relationships and expand the use of cross-border e-commerce, the Japanese government has announced that it will focus on stimulating investment in growth fields and strengthening human capital investment to improve productivity. While the government is taking the lead in promoting the “DX (Digital Transformation)” initiative that aims to fully promote IT in Japan, we are also focusing on “expanding the use of Web 3.0 services.”

Web 3.0 policies in Western countries and China

Web 3.0-related markets are expanding rapidly, and standards such as technical formats and regulatory frameworks, as well as winners in each market, may be determined in the next few years. Based on this situation, Western countries and the Chinese government are hastening to consider strategies for the Web 3.0 era. In March 2010, President Biden signed the “Executive Order to Ensure the Responsible Development of Digital Assets” in the United States, demonstrating his determination and readiness to continue to lead innovation in the digital economy even in the era of Web 3.0. , ordered the compilation of a national strategy.

In conjunction with this, major US companies such as BlackRock, the largest asset management company, partnered with Coinbase Global, a major virtual currency exchange business, and Nike entered the NFT/Metaverse (virtual space) business. are participating in

In China, the development of the digital economy is positioned as an important national goal in the “14th Five-Year Plan” formulated in 2021, and along with artificial intelligence, 5G, big data, etc., blockchain is a key technology for DX. incorporated as.

Hong Kong, which is positioned as China’s “Special Administrative Region”, has a vision to become a virtual currency hub, and if it is approved, China money (funds from Greater China) can be expected to flow in.

On February 20, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong released a draft licensing requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and permitting retail investors to trade cryptocurrencies by June 2023.

connection:Bitcoin remains in the latest high price range, suggesting an influx of Chinese money in the situation in Hong Kong

Recently, Conflux Network (CFX), which is considered to be the only regulation-compliant public chain in China, partnered with Chinese SNS major Little Red Book in January 2011, and is developing a blockchain SIM card with China Telecom. I found out in February.

Major Chinese tech companies such as Tencent and Alibaba are strengthening their cloud business overseas and entering NFT in China. Since 2021, virtual currency trading and related activities such as mining have been completely banned, so NFT platforms that do not use virtual currency are being developed.

China also plans to support the development of a large-scale Metaverse, and the city of Shanghai announced in July that it will strengthen support for the technology industry, including the establishment of a fund dedicated to the development of the Metaverse with a scale of approximately 200 billion yen (10 billion yuan). announcement.

At the end of February 2011, Huawei Cloud launched the “Metaverse & Web 3.0 Alliance” and announced cooperation with Polygon (MATIC), Deepbrain Chain (DBC), Morpheus Labs (MITX), and BlockChain Solutions.

connection:US President Biden Signs Executive Order Related To Cryptocurrencies

connection:UK Treasury to make the UK a global hub for cryptocurrency technology and investment

Promotion of Web 3.0 policy by the Japanese government

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party Digital Society Promotion Headquarters established the “web3 project team (former: NFT Policy Review Project Team)” (web3PT) in January 2010. In the proposal “NFT White Paper” published in March 2010, web3PT positions Web 3.0 as “a new frontier for the digital economy” and promotes the development of the economic zone including NFT, which is the trigger for it. He suggested that it should be established as a national strategy.

This triggered the Digital Society Promotion Headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party to announce specific proposals for digital measures, “Digital Japan 2022.” We clarified the tax system issues faced by Japan that lead to the outflow of human resources.

In response to these proposals, the Japanese government made a cabinet decision in June 2010 to include the development of a Web 3.0 environment in its growth strategy. He declared a policy to proceed with consideration of environmental improvements for the promotion of Web 3.0, such as the use of NFT and DAO (Distributed Autonomous Organization).

Since its inauguration in 2021, the Kishida administration has advocated a “new capitalism” based on the concepts of “a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution” and “development of a new post-corona society.”

In May 2010, Prime Minister Kishida announced the “Plan to Double Asset Income” in a speech at City, the UK financial district, and called for investment in Japan. We will realize a society where new services can easily be created, including

In November of the same year, the Kishida administration set out a five-year plan to develop startups, which clearly stated that it would promote the development of an environment, including taxation for blockchain technology and Web 3.0 (distributed web).

Following the order of the Kishida administration, in the second half of 2010, relevant ministries and agencies, including the Financial Services Agency and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, began full-fledged efforts to develop the Web 3.0 business environment. In the 2011 tax reform, some revisions were made to the corporate tax rules for virtual currencies. For start-up companies that had no choice but to flow overseas, this is an important step toward a significant improvement in the situation.

Launch of the Digital Agency

On September 30, 2010, the Digital Agency established the “Web 3.0 Study Group” to oversee the environmental improvements of these ministries and agencies and to consider environmental improvements, including legal revisions. Experts from various backgrounds with backgrounds in private companies, economists, and research institutes participate.

In December 2010, the Web 3.0 Study Group submitted a report on the necessary environmental improvements to assess the benefits and risks of Web 3.0 use cases and lead to economic growth. With respect to services and tools that utilize blockchain, we will clarify the areas that are difficult to control under current laws and regulations, and work with related ministries and agencies to develop an environment that allows timely access to global discussions and knowledge.

Source: Web3.0 Study Group

Affinity between Web 3.0 and domestic IP

The Web 3.0 field is attracting attention as it has a high affinity with the Cool Japan strategy recommended by the Cabinet Office and the “regional revitalization policy” aimed at increasing the vitality of Japan as a whole.

It was pointed out that Japan possesses a wealth of high-quality intellectual property (IP) that has international competitiveness, such as anime and games, and that there is the possibility of creating economic value by developing overseas demand for products and services. It is

Utilization of NFTs and fan tokens issued by artists and organizations is expected to secure additional revenue sources for IP holders and creators, maintain highly loyal fans, and eventually lead to industrial development in the cultural and economic fields. It is also important to create an environment in the near future that will allow Japan to develop such strengths.

Also, in rural areas, start-up companies will play a central role in collaborating with local governments to solve local issues and increase their vitality by utilizing Web 3.0 technology, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and DAOs (autonomous decentralized organizations). and

At a meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on January 30, Prime Minister Kishida said, “The Metaverse is one of the technologies that enables activities and exchanges that transcend geographical restrictions. It will create new human exchanges and improve the comfort of living in the region. “Japan will lead the spread and development of emerging technologies, and move forward with policies, including consideration of international events (related to Web 3.0), in order to increase the literacy of the people. It’s important to keep going,” he said.

List of Japanese government trends and news related to Web 3.0

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Introduction of major domestic web 3.0 related projects

Astar Network (ASTR)

Astar Network is the third parachain ever connected to Polkadot (DOT). A public blockchain from Japan led by Stake Technologies, whose CEO is Sota Watanabe.

Its feature is that it is designed to be a smart contract hub in the multi-chain era. Supports not only Ethereum-compatible apps but also the next-generation development environment WebAssembly. dApp staking, which provides basic income, has gained support from developers and is supported by the world’s top investors such as Polychain, Binance, and Coinbase.

Watanabe is actively involved in the ruling party’s Web3 project team and plays a key role in formulating the Japanese government’s Web3.0 strategy. In April 2010, I had a discussion about web 3.0 with Taro Kono (then Chief of Public Relations Headquarters) of the Liberal Democratic Party and Masaaki Taira, Internet Media Director.

Since 2022, we have been promoting partnerships with domestic governments and major companies, and Astar Network is rapidly increasing its presence in Japan.

Main Topics of Astar Network (ASTR)

In October 2010, NTT Docomo, Inc. concluded a basic agreement with Stake Technologies for the purpose of promoting Web 3.0. Both companies have launched a project to solve social issues using the concept of a distributed autonomous organization (DAO). Utilizing Web 3.0 technology, work on regional revitalization and planning of countermeasures against environmental problems.

connection:NTT DoCoMo concludes a basic agreement with Astar Network to spread Web3

In December 2010, advertising giant Hakuhodo announced the establishment of a joint venture, Hakuhodo Keithly, with Stake Technologies. The new company will carry out initiatives aimed at corporate Web 3.0 entry and popularization.

connection:Hakuhodo establishes Web3 joint venture with Stake Technologies

Hakuhodo Keithley Co., Ltd. will hold the first web 3.0 global hackathon from February 14 to March 25, 2023. Keithley’s hackathon is characterized by a corporate tie-up format held with sponsor companies. The first event will be co-sponsored by Toyota Motor Corporation with the theme of “development of DAO support tools for corporate projects”.

connection:Hakuhodo Keathley to Host Web 3.0 Hackathon Sponsored by Toyota from February 14th

In January 2011, Sota Watanabe established a new company, Startale Labs. Startale Labs aims to establish a position in Asia like ConsenSys, a North American company that supports development in the Ethereum (ETH) and Polkadot (DOT) ecosystems, and Parity in Europe.

Actively utilize connections cultivated through AstarNetwork such as Astar Foundation, Web3 Foundation, projects and large companies. We also carry out multi-chain compatible dApps (distributed applications), infrastructure development, web3.0 business consulting, research and development, and incubation.

connection:Astar Sota Watanabe establishes “Startale Labs”, aiming to be one of the top 3 web companies in Asia.

connection:Sendai City Participates in Astar Japan Lab｜Second Local Government Participation

connection:What is Japan’s public blockchain “Aster Network (ASTR)” | Explanation of features and mechanism

Oasys (OAS)

Oasys is a game-specific blockchain built for game IP (intellectual property) holders and gamers based on the concept of “Blockchain for The Games.”

Oasys’ initial validators (approvers) include 21 affiliated companies, mainly the largest domestic game companies such as Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco Labs, and GREE, as well as Web 3.0-related companies such as bitFlyer and Aster. .

The “Founding Team” of the Oasys project consisted of the following members.

• Hajime Nakatani (Bandai Namco Research Institute, President and CEO)
• Mr. Hironobu Ueno (CEO of double jump.tokyo)
• Hironao Kunimitsu (Founder of gumi / CEO of Thirdverse)
• Shuji Utsumi (Executive Vice President of SEGA)
• Gabby Dizon (Co-Founder, Yield Guild Games)

The initial validator will connect to the blockchain network and function as one of the nodes that verifies whether transactions on the chain are correct, and will also explore research and development of next-generation Web3.0 games.

By adopting the consensus building algorithm PoS (Proof of Stake), we will eliminate the transaction fee (Gas fee) for game players, which has been a major issue so far, and speed up the transaction process.

The mainnet launch is making good progress in all three phases, with the successful integration of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible L1 “Hub-Layer” and L2 “Verse-Layer”. , the Oasys ecosystem is fully operational.

Main topics of Oasys (OAS)

Oasys launched governance as a decentralized decision-making process in January 2023. In addition to decentralizing the project, we will discuss the development of the blockchain game industry, such as standards for interoperability of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) specialized for games and the metaverse.

connection:Oasys launches governance structure for full DAO by 2028

The NFT project “OASYX” for gamers, where Oasys officially provides IP, started in December 2010. In addition to featuring legendary game creators in each series as worldview supervisors, we are also planning collaborations with various domestic and international NFT projects.

The first in the series, published by NFT/blockchain game development company double jump.tokyo, is supervised by Yu Suzuki, who worked on the fighting games Virtua Fighter series and Shenmue series at Sega. It will be a PFP type NFT for which artist GODTAIL was in charge of character design.

connection:Oasys’ first NFT project “OASYX” using legendary game creators has started!

At the OAS token public token sale that started on November 30, 2010, the commitment exceeded the target amount in half a day. Investors from a total of 60 countries participated in the five days.

In addition, the following companies and funds, such as the MZ Web3 fund established by Yusaku Maezawa, the founder of ZOZO, and Nexon, a major game company, participated in the strategic investment round aimed at “strengthening the ecosystem”. The specific funding amount has not been disclosed.

connection:Oasys Completes Strategic Investment Round and Public Sale

In November 2010, Oasys entered into a strategic partnership with “YGG Japan,” which was established with the expansion of Yield Guild Games (YGG), one of the world’s largest blockchain game guilds, into Japan.

YGG’s knowledge, which has more than 100,000 players and 30,000 scalars in 28 countries, and Oasys’ connections with domestic and overseas game developers will generate synergies, and it is expected that they will be used to expand the Japanese blockchain game market. be done.

connection:Partnership with Japanese game chain Oasys and YGG Japan

connection:What is “Oasys (OAS)” that even beginners can understand? | Explanation of features and mechanism

Web3 large-scale conference “WebX” hosted by CoinPost

CoinPost Co., Ltd., which operates Japan’s largest virtual currency / blockchain media “CoinPost”, will hold Asia’s largest international Web3 at the Tokyo International Forum for two days on July 25 (Tuesday) and 26 (Wednesday), 2023. The conference “WebX” will be held.

CoinPost Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Takahito Kakamu), which operates Japan’s largest virtual currency and blockchain media “CoinPost”, will open on July 25 (Tuesday) and 26 (Wednesday), 2023. We are pleased to announce that Asia’s largest Web3 conference will be held for two days at the Tokyo International Forum.

WebX is Asia’s largest Web3 conference, gathering promising Web2/Web3 projects, companies, entrepreneurs, investors, developers, etc. from all over the world.

Visitors can enjoy performances (simultaneous interpretation in Japanese) with top projects and founders in the Web3 field, networking opportunities, technical workshops by major projects, pitch events related to Web3 business, exhibitions of various companies and projects, You can participate in GameFi gaming events.

• Date: July 25th (Tue) and 26th (Wed), 2023
• Venue: Tokyo International Forum
• Organizer/Planner: CoinPost Co., Ltd.
• Number of visitors (expected): 15,000 or more
• Participating companies (expected): 2,000 or more
• Number of exhibitors (expected): 150 or more
• Number of media partners (expected): 50 or more

Pre-registration with only an email address for the event (first 1000 people) offers discounts on ticket prices and invitations to limited events.

Register here

connection:Web3 Large Conference “WebX” Sponsored by CoinPost, Held at Tokyo International Forum

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