Kanno Taishi, mayor of Nishikawa Town and creator of Japan's first municipally issued NFT, "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT," talks about the "push activity" of local governments

Nishikawa Town in Yamagata Prefecture aims to create a connected population and increase the number of immigrants by issuing NFTs. We asked Mayor Kanno Taishi about the background and purpose of announcing Japan's first municipally issued NFT.

In April 2023, Nishikawa Town announced the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT" as Japan's first municipally issued NFT. Please tell us about the background and purpose of starting this project.

Kanno Taishi (hereinafter Kanno): The purpose and background of issuing the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT" is to increase the connected population of Nishikawa Town. Ultimately, we also hope that NFT buyers will immigrate to the town.

The main targets for people who we would like to immigrate to are the so-called wealthy and younger generations. In addition, as part of our efforts to increase immigrants, Nishikawa Town is also focusing on developing saunas as a tourism business. We thought that NFTs were exactly the area that overlapped with these target groups.

In fact, when we looked at a survey conducted by a major research company, we recognized that the target group we were looking for tends to be linked to the NFT market. So we explored ways to access the NFT market, and decided to issue the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT."

When did you have the idea of ​​issuing and using NFTs as a local government?

Kanno: I had been planning the plan since I was a government official. I thought that the best way to get people to choose Nishikawa Town from the more than 1,700 local governments in Japan was to create a connected population through NFTs.

There are other advanced initiatives using NFTs in Nishikawa Town, but please tell us about the benefits of using Web 3.0 technology.

Kanno: First of all, we are attracted to the fact that users who are interested in NFTs are the ideal target group we are looking for. Another reason is that it can be linked to smartphones.

NFTs require a wallet, which is often installed on smartphones or computers. I think that smartphones are especially the last thing that anyone wants to lose. Having smartphones connected to the local government is extremely important for disseminating information about the town and for residents to easily find out about the town.

In fact, I send direct messages to the community members who own the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT" at least once a month.

In July of this year, you sold the right to consult with the mayor and deputy mayor as an NFT. What was the background to this?

Kanno: With the concept of "the mayor and deputy mayor earning money for the town themselves," we sold the right to consult with us about anything as a ticket NFT, with the aim of using the profits from this to support elderly people.

Nishikawa Town has the highest aging rate in Yamagata Prefecture, at about 47%. In the process of understanding subsidies myself, I realized that there were not many that could be used for the purpose of supporting the elderly. When I thought about how to increase financial resources to promote the healthy life expectancy of the elderly in such a situation, I felt that NFTs could be useful here as well.

Of course, I understand that it is difficult to get the townspeople to understand digital technology and NFTs at large, but I think it is important for them to feel that "I don't know why, but this is increasing the town's revenue" and "Thanks to NFTs, we can do this."

I also think that the fact that I and Deputy Mayor Shogo Naito are strong in the digital field is a strong point. Ticket NFTs were born as a result of combining the challenges and weaknesses of Nishikawa Town with the strength of having people who can use next-generation technology to solve them.

By the way, the "Mayor's Lecture Ticket NFT Gold" issued through this initiative was sold in five units, and although each unit is expensive at 500,000 yen, it sold out within four hours of going on sale. People who purchase this NFT can occupy my time for a total of 12 hours per NFT. The profits earned from this will actually be used for elderly support measures.

What effects and impacts have you seen in Nishikawa Town from actually issuing NFTs?

Kanno: What I felt after issuing the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT" was how addictive it was.

For example, it has something in common with the sauna business that Nishikawa Town is also focusing on, but we focused on improving user satisfaction by investing in a cold bath that uses natural water. The reason for this is to create an addictive feeling that makes people want to go back after just one visit, and to attract more people to Nishikawa Town.

I mentioned earlier that we will be sending information to the community members who own the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT," but the information I'm talking about here is advance information that will be released for the first time under this law.

For example, we are working to provide fresh information that cannot be replaced by money, such as an advance announcement of town events to the community members. The important point here is that "no one is left behind in terms of information." This creates an addictive feeling, and most of the NFTs we issue are purchased.

Naturally, at first, there was a discussion in the assembly about why issuing NFTs would benefit the town. Each time, I carefully explained that "utilizing digital technology will also help secure financial resources for Nishikawa Town." This led to the creation of the "Earning Division," a department in charge of the "Nishikawa Town Digital Resident Card NFT."

In terms of effectiveness, a unique community has been formed among NFT holders, and a certain number of groups have started coming to Nishikawa Town. Various layers have also been formed within the community, and some people are promoting Nishikawa Town in a way similar to oshikatsu. Recently, when we called for volunteers, 30 NFT holders came.

What surprised me the most was that NFT holders came to the groundbreaking ceremony, bringing happi coats and Nishikawa Town's homemade fans. I was really surprised because I think it's rare for even local people to attend a groundbreaking ceremony.

Please tell us about your future efforts using Web 3.0 technology.

Kanno: In terms of the situation, NFT-related business is going very well, and it is also leading to the creation of fans of Nishikawa Town through NFT. I feel that the idea that "the town has created a section to make money" is starting to spread among the townspeople.

We have also enacted a bylaw that states that NFT revenues will go into a special purpose fund for supporting the elderly, and that support measures will be implemented through this fund. Therefore, the harder we work on initiatives that utilize NFTs, the more financial resources will be allocated to supporting the elderly.

I believe that by continuing this, we will be able to have a positive impact on Nishikawa Town, not only financially, but also emotionally.

However, the world of NFTs is still small, and when I talk to holders, I feel that Japan is lagging behind in the Web 3.0 field. The NFT market in Japan is still small, and the driving force is weak. I feel a sense of crisis that Japan may ultimately lose business opportunities in this field.

In fact, there are almost no opportunities to convey this situation to the government or politicians, so there are voices within the community that say that they want me, the mayor, to convey the situation to the government. I want to listen to these voices and start by changing what I can.

As a future initiative, we would like to use NFT to raise awareness of the need to evacuate with smartphones and tablets in the event of a disaster. The Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred in January this year reminded us of how important it is to evacuate with these communication tools.

In addition, in the event of a disaster, it may be difficult to know the safety of town hall staff. In that case, I think it is extremely important to have people who know Nishikawa Town well, even if they are outside the town, support us, including as volunteers. With this in mind, I feel that the existence of digital town residents is very beneficial.

We are also planning to hold a disaster prevention training session in the fall, where people will actually register as volunteers and participate in the digital town residents. We would like to connect town hall staff and volunteers there and confirm the chain of command in the event of an emergency.

I feel that NFT is a next-generation tool that can be used to promote local governments and give people a sense of "second home". We will continue to use NFT in our efforts to reach out to fans who love and support Nishikawa Town.

Profile

◉ Daishi Kanno

Mayor of Nishikawa Town

Born in Nishikawa Town, he joined the Ministry of Finance's Tohoku Regional Finance Bureau in 2001. After working at the Cabinet Secretariat's Town, People and Job Creation Headquarters and the Digital Garden City State Vision Realization Council Secretariat, he became mayor in 2022. He is engaged in parallel work, such as running the Regional Economic Association, where public servants and financial institution employees interact, and running a company.