Japan Launches Open Metaverse with Web3 Tech: Cool Japan Initiative

• Major Japanese companies are coming together to build an open metaverse.
• The “Japan Metaverse Economic Zone” will use various technologies such as Gamification, FinTech, and ICT.
• Japan is attempting to incorporate Web3 technology into its national agenda with initiatives such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

Major Japanese Companies Collaborating on Open Metaverse

Major Japanese technology, manufacturing, and financial firms are collaborating to build the infrastructure for an open metaverse in order to advance the country’s Web3 strategy. On 27 February, IT services company Fujitsu announced in a press release that it was working with nine other companies including automobile manufacturer Mitsubishi and global bank Mizuho to develop Ryugukoku, an interoperable metaverse structure that will expand the „Japan Metaverse Economic Zone.“

Components of the Japan Metaverse Economic Zone

The press release mentioned that the metaverse alliance aims to help build the framework for corporations to tap into Web3 marketing, work reform, and consumer experience initiatives. Ryugukoku will function as a virtual world that connects users to various Web3 services developed by businesses and government agencies. Companies that have signed the agreement will integrate their respective technologies and services to create Ryugukoku according to its terms. These services include gamification, FinTech, information and communication technologies (ICT), Auto-Learning Avatars which collect user data in order to provide a personalized metaverse experience Pegasus World Kit which assists users in creating gamified metaverse experiences; Multi-Magic Passport which provides identification and payment methods; among others. The Japan Metaverse Economic Zone will eventually result from the interoperability of various metaverse services and platforms available worldwide.

Initiatives Supporting Japan’s Web 3 Strategy

Japan is attempting to incorporate Web3 technology into its national agenda. In February 2021 Prime Minister Fumio Kishia recognized that decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) would support the government’s „Cool Japan“ strategy while in October 2022 he announced plans for digital transformation investments such as NFTs and within the Metaverse. In November 2022 Digital Ministry announced plans for establishing a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) assisting government agencies in transitioning their operations towards blockchain based solutions.

Future Plans for Interoperable Metaverses

The platform may also provide this infrastructure outside of Japan in future plans mentioned in the agreement between these companies forming an alliance around Ryugukoku being built by Fujitsu . It is intended as part of these efforts from this group of major enterprises envisioned by prime minister Fumio Kishida’s vision of Cool Japan , expanding beyond local markets towards international ones through this interoperable metaverses .

Conclusion

This collaboration between multiple major Japanese companies signifies how seriously they take Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s goal of incorporating web 3 technology into their national agenda through initiatives such as DAOs , NFTs , investing on digital transformation technologies , etc . Through these efforts they hope to develop an open environment facilitating greater economic exchange through providing accessibly interoperable virtual worlds making use of both existing cutting edge technologies as well as new ones created specifically for this purpose with auto learning avatars , pegasus world kit & multi magic passport among others .