The Neo-Yamakoshi project in Japan attracts 1,700 digital citizens by selling NFTs to support the aging population. Raised 423,000 USD for community initiatives in the village.

Yamakoshi, a remote Japanese village nestled in the Niigata Mountains, has attracted 1,700 “digital natives” through a token sale (NFT) in an initiative to support and sustain its aging population here.

The Neo-Yamakoshi Village Project, led by locals, curates the Nishikigoi NFT collection, named after the vibrant koi carp variety. These digital assets not only serve as identifiers for the “digital citizens” of Yamakoshi village but also as governance tokens, allowing them to participate in voting processes organized by the community. Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of village management.

According to a new report from Japanese research and consulting firm Yuri Group, the project has raised more than $423,000 through the Nishikigoi NFT sale since its launch in 2021. The proceeds were used for Community activities such as organizing sports days for local students.

Nishikigoi tokens are provided for free to residents living in the village, while the community will have to purchase them. The floor price is 0.0318 Ether (ETH, about 3,469 USD) as of June 26, according to NFT exchange Magic Eden.

While NFT technology is not an immediate solution to Japan's record falling birth rate, it is a unique and experimental approach to raising funds for the aging population in rural communities isolated.

“If their strategy works and expands to other villages, we estimate that rural Japan could raise about half a billion USD, while testing a new wave of social technology that can global appeal,” Yuri Group said in its report.

In April, the Population Strategy Council – a private organization – reported that 40% of Japan's 1,729 municipalities were at risk of disappearing due to falling birth rates. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration sees Web3 as vital to achieving "Society 5.0" - a plan to create a more advanced and sustainable society by integrating technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of things and big data.

The Neo-Yamakoshi Village project has been funded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party with 10 million yen (about 62,500 USD) to test and deploy Web3 tools. However, the project has encountered some obstacles, such as explaining technology and its benefits to older people. According to Yuri Group, the project manager said they had difficulty presenting the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) voting process and had low voter turnout.

In addition, foreign "digital natives" also encounter language barriers.

Global NFT market decline

According to CryptoSlam data, global NFT sales volume is on track to end Q2 2024 with a 45% decline, while June is expected to become the worst-performing month since October 2023.

The NFT market capitalization, largely dominated by collectibles and avatars, fell 31.5% in the three months to June 26, according to data from NFTGo.

Although global NFT trading activity has dropped sharply in recent months, Yuri Group says there is still potential for both physical NFTs and collectible NFTs in Japan.

“This is Japan, the home of anime and manga, a country with a very developed culture of collecting tangible objects, which is suitable for the adoption of NFTs,” said Will Fee, researcher at Yuri Group, said.

“The 'digital natives' of the Yamakoshi metaverse also tend to use anime or cartoon avatars, suggesting that more playful applications of this technology also have a place alongside impactful use cases its society,” he added.

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