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Fumio kishida, the Japanese Prime Minister, spoke in favour of blockchain as a potential solution to the technological problems facing the country.
In reply to questions by masaaki taira, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, before the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives of Japan on 2 February. 1, Kishida said there were “various possibilities for using Web3” in Japan. He added that the Japanese government could use aspects including nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) in efforts to revitalize regions and promote “Cool Japan” — a national strategy aimed at showing off the country’s innovations and culture to the rest of the world.
"If you look at the daos, people who care about the same social problems can form a new community," said Kishida. "Free trade agreements can also serve to diversify creators' incomes and build loyalty."
Taira chairs the government’s task force on Web3 policy. He highlighted coordination with the Japanese tax authorities and research on the release of a digital yen. The country’s central bank announced in November it planned to start a pilot program for a digital currency starting in spring 2023.
"I think these types of blockchain technology and the use of web3 technology are effective in addressing the different problems we have," said Taira.
Since taking office in October 2021, Kishida has sometimes spoken out about the Japanese government's plans to invest in web3 services as part of Japan's digital transformation. In September, his cabinet allowed the issuance of NFTs as a reward for regional authorities using digital technology to solve problems.
Related: Japanese prime minister says gov't investment in digital transformation will include Metaverse, NFTs
The deputy director-general of Financial Services Agency’s Strategy Development and Management Bureau of Japan has called for more stringent rules on crypto akin to those of banks. Amid the crypto market downtown, exchanges including COINBASE and Kraken have shuttered operations in Japan, while the local subsidiary of bankrupt firm FTX has until March 9 to suspend business.
