Japan is set to put in fresh investments to expand metaverse and NFT in the country, its Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida has announced. In a speech to Japan’s Parliament, the PM said they were planning to invest more in digital transformation, which includes metaverse-related services and NFT. The announcement comes in the wake of Japan’s increasing efforts to use blockchain technology in mainstream activities.
Japan’s federal foray into Web 3.0 follows a trend of Japanese officials taking strides to implement Web 3.0-related services in the country, rather than following the typical bureaucratic route that policies must often travel through.
Japan has been consistently promoting investments in digital technology by offering tax incentives for companies which are already adopting the digital future. The PM said Japan would keep supporting the social implementation of digital technology and will continue to promote the efforts for the expansion and development of Web 3.0 services that can be used in the country through the metaverse. The NFT will also be on top priority for the future.
It was reported that the country’s entrance and subsequent new ventures into Web 3.0 follow a desire among government officials who are making moves to bring and apply Web 3.0-related services to the nation.
PM Kishida, who assumed his office in 2021, has designated Web 3.0 development as one of the pillars of economic reform. In April, PM Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party, through a task force led by MP Akihisa Shiozaki, released an NFT White Paper, which considered Web 3.0 as “the new outskirts of the computerized economy” and illustrated plans to propel the public methodology on Web 3.0.
The current Japanese PM’s administration has already launched a Web 3.0 policy office not long ago and the office was placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), an authority that is dedicated to making policies for the country’s progressive and systematic expansion into blockchain technology.
METI is reportedly looking into a proposal to offer tax exemptions to Japanese crypto organizations to captivate them to keep their businesses within the nation and further fuel the country’s developing Web 3.0 industry.
Meanwhile, as part of the ongoing digital transformation in Japan, the local government has been issuing NFT to officials as a reward for their hard work. More than half a dozen mayors were awarded with NFT as recognition for their ideas related to the development of the digital economy for their respective cities.
The tokens function as “digital credentials” of achievement. The NFT uses the Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) technology on the Ethereum blockchain network. NFT is breaking new ground in its adoption due to moves by some nations like the scale of the Japanese market. The Japanese government’s initiatives are an open embrace of the market.
In a separate but related development, Japanese authorities are reportedly planning to revise a regulation on criminal fund transfers that mandate crypto exchanges provide user data in crypto transfers by 2023 to prevent money laundering using digital tokens.
