The film looks at the initiatives of projects such as the ‘Web3 Village’, a unique concept that aims to transform Akita, which is suffering from a declining population and shrinking economy, through the use of Akita Inu and Web3.0.
Web 3.0 is an effective tool in solving Akita's problems
--The reason for setting up Meta Akita in Akita is that the majority of our members are volunteers from Akita.
TASUKOF: We set up Meta Akita in Akita because, in addition to the fact that the majority of our members are volunteers from Akita, we thought we had to do something about the negative situation that has surrounded Akita for many years.
Akita's population is declining by more than 10 000 people a year, the highest rate of population decline in Japan. It also has the highest female out-migration rate in eastern Japan, and with an average age of over 50, it has the lowest birthrate and the oldest population in Japan. The speed of economic contraction is also the fastest in Japan, and the situation is very serious.
In order to change this situation, we first thought of creating businesses in Akita, but even if we started new businesses such as food and beverage or retail, the demand in the prefecture itself is small, so the chances of success are low. Furthermore, Akita is an ‘isolated island on land’ with poor accessibility from metropolitan areas, and it is not easy to attract people from outside the prefecture.
We then considered what kind of business we could start in Akita, and came up with two conditions: one was that we could start small with a small number of elite people, and the other was that we would not be restricted by Akita's geographical conditions and economy.
Taking these into consideration, we decided to start with an IT business. As I myself have been involved in blockchain business consulting for a major company since around 2016, I thought that Web 3.0, one of the next-generation models of the internet, could be used to solve Akita's problems, and decided to make Web 3.0 one of Meta Akita's solutions. Why Web 3.0?
--Why do you think Web 3.0 is the next generation of IT business?
TASUKOF: First of all, as a premise, we believe that the Internet as an infrastructure is not inherently centralised. However, as a result, the current internet/IT business is controlled by large companies such as GAFAM.
Web 3.0 is also fundamentally de-centralised, but in reality, some nodes occupy mining, and large companies are investing heavily to centralise even Web 3.0 (occupying the gateway to Web 3). For our part, we have a kind of sense of crisis about this trend.
On the other hand, as Web 3.0 is easy to implement with transparent incentives for individual contributions, we believe that its increasing decentralisation has the potential to generate new business and technological innovations at the level of individuals around the world. We believe this is the ideal future of IT business, and Meta Akita wants to promote the ‘ideal evolution of IT business’ from the local level.
--What part of launching the business did you think ‘will be successful because of Akita’?
TASUKOF: First of all, in order to promote the region to the world, it is necessary to select something easy to understand for people around the world as the core of the business. The most global IP (brand) in Akita is Akita Inu. We decided to focus on Akita Inu and combine it with IT/Web 3.0 to create a business that successfully utilises the Akita Inu brand.
Yudai Shirahata (Shirahata): We believe that utilising IP is the key to regional development. In addition to Akita Inu, Akita has other well-known IP such as sake and namahage, and we feel that there is potential for businesses that utilise them. Also, while placing IP at the centre of business, individuals taking the initiative and leading the activities in a DAO-like manner is a model that is suitable for Web 3.0.
We envision a future where people from all over Japan and the world who support Akita's IP participate in activities that enliven Akita while being there, while developing businesses that utilise Web 3.0 thinking and technology, and where the number of fans increases even further.
TASUKOF: If the DAO functions well as a business that utilises IP and as a new form of organisation, we believe that we can create a situation where people will naturally gather in Akita, either digitally or physically.
This includes Akita Inu fans from all over the world, and skilled people from Akita Prefecture who once left the prefecture may come back to Akita. If we can create such a flow of people and money, we believe that we can uncover various IPs that are still sleeping and create a synergistic effect.
We are working to create this situation with the vision of ‘turning a city with the fastest declining birthrate and ageing population in the world into a city that can boast the world's highest level of affluence’.
