Fukuoka Wants to Become a Web3 and Metaverse Development Center in Japan

Fukuoka wants to be a center for web3 development in Japan. (photo: dock. Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The city of Fukuoka in Japan sees the future of Web3 in its latest partnership with Astar Japan Labs, the company behind Japan's leading blockchain, the Astar network.

Fukuoka is the second largest port city in the country and has officially been designated a National Special Strategic Zone. Now the Fukuoka city government is also planning to become the nation's hub for all things Web3 and crypto.

The Astar Japan Labs partnership will allow the two entities to work together on new use cases for Web3 technology. Fukuoka joins more than 45 companies working with Astar, including Microsoft Japan and Amazon Japan.

According to the announcement, the city wants to attract competitive global businesses to the area. Representatives from Astar will regularly visit the city to provide education and new use cases, both locally and across the country in collaboration with local governments.

The mayor of Fukuoka, Soichiro Takashima, also supported the city's new aspirations on Web3. “We have to do in the context of Web3 what big companies do for the world when Japan is strong,” Takashima said, quoted by Cointelegraph.

Astar Network founder Sota Watanabe likened the city's attitude towards crypto to those who are leading the crypto scene overseas. “In the US, some cities like Miami and New York have positive attitudes towards Web3 and crypto. We will work closely with Fukuoka City to attract more developers and more entrepreneurs,” said Watanabe.

This new development comes after a series of changes in Japan regarding the crypto and Web3 scene.

The country has been touted as one of the toughest when it comes to crypto regulations, potentially hindering its allure. On the other hand, it has recently relaxed a series of regulations for listing new currencies on official exchanges.

On October 3, Japan's prime minister said in a speech that the government has plans for major investments in Web3 and the metaverse initiative. The government recently used nonfungible tokens (NFT) to reward local authorities.