Crypto Village Newsletter #32 - 2/28
Welcome back to our News Letter!
A huge thank you to all our new subscribers! This newsletter is brought to you by Crypto Village, where we share the latest updates on the Nishikigoi NFT project, Japanese local NFT initiatives, and much more.
The News of the Week:
Designing a New Nation: The Vision of Neo Yamakoshi Village
In this episode, I’ll share the content of a serialized article that was recently published in Japan. Since it's quite long, I'll break it down into two parts. This time, I’m sharing an interview with the founder, Haruka Takakeuchi san, about the future of Yamakoshi and Neo Yamakoshi Village.
Designing a New Country: The Vision of Neo Yamakoshi Village
The title "Designing a New Nation" is more than just a metaphor—it embodies the future that Neo Yamakoshi Village is striving to create. Born from the former Yamakoshi Village in Niigata Prefecture, this community is exploring new ways to maximize regional potential.
The Yamakoshi region suffered devastating damage from the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake. Just six months later, in April 2005, Yamakoshi Village was merged into Nagaoka City. However, its spirit was never lost—it continues to thrive in new and innovative ways. One of the most great examples of this enduring legacy is the community known as "Neo Yamakoshi Village" (formerly Yamakoshi DAO).
For the past three years, this initiative has been leveraging NFT technology as a digital tool to rebuild connections between the region and its people. But where is this "village" headed next? To find out, I sat down with Haruka Takeuchi, the founder of Nishikigoi NFT and the driving force behind Neo Yamakoshi Village, along with her manager and digital villager, Reeman. In this interview, they share their vision, past challenges, and aspirations for the future of Neo Yamakoshi Village.
Through this article, we invite you to delve into the essence of Neo Yamakoshi Village and directly experience the significance of its ambitious journey.
Beyond Local and Blood Ties
Crypto Village: What kind of project is Neo Yamakoshi Village? Can you tell us about its background and how it was founded?
Haruka Takeuchi: Some of you may already know that Yamakoshi experienced a complete evacuation due to the Chuetsu Earthquake 20 years ago. At that time, the village had around 2,200 residents. However, after three and a half years of recovery, only about 1,700 people returned.
Despite efforts by residents to revitalize Yamakoshi, the population decline continued. It was then that we realized, "We haven't been working to sustain Yamakoshi simply in terms of population numbers." Yamakoshi has always been supported not only by those who live there but also by those who left and still feel a deep connection, as well as those who continue to engage with the region. We wanted to build a future for Yamakoshi together with people who share this "Yamakoshi DNA." This led to the launch of the "Virtual Yamakoshi Project," which became the predecessor of today's Neo Yamakoshi Village.
This project, which started around 2020, aimed to create "a new autonomous zone that transcends local and blood ties to shape the future of Yamakoshi." However, while we found like-minded individuals beyond the region, the challenge was how to integrate them into the community and make these new relationships visible.
The introduction of NFTs opened new possibilities for Yamakoshi. In December 2021, we launched the "Nishikigoi NFT," inspired by the region's iconic koi fish, and our community began operating as "Yamakoshi DAO." However, since the concept of a DAO was not widely understood, we felt the need for a clearer system to recognize and formalize the new connections forged through NFTs.
To address this, we updated Yamakoshi DAO, renaming it "Neo Yamakoshi Village" to signify a space where both local and digital villagers could shape the future together. After discussions between residents and digital villagers, followed by a community vote, we officially adopted this name on February 11, 2024.
Crypto Village: It's already been a year since Neo Yamakoshi Village was born. First of all, what exactly is a "digital villager"? And what kind of community do you want to build together with them?
Takeuchi: Yes, we refer to the holders of Nishikigoi NFT as "digital villagers." Currently, there are about 1,800 of them. Little by little, some of these digital villagers have started visiting Yamakoshi in person, engaging in casual conversations with the residents, and forming relationships similar to those of neighbors or relatives.
As a result, rather than a "host and guest" relationship, a sense of being a part of Yamakoshi and connecting the community together is beginning to take root among both the local residents and the digital villagers. Our goal is to build a community where digital villagers and local residents are not merely NFT holders and regional dwellers, but rather partners who support each other and create the future of Yamakoshi together. We want to cultivate this co-creative relationship moving forward.
Crypto Village: What kind of activities are digital villagers actually involved in?
Takakeuchi: The first year after the establishment of Neo Yamakoshi Village has been a period in which both real residents of Yamakoshi and digital villagers have engaged with the local community, addressing various challenges together. Real residents actively participated in events, business ventures, landscape improvements, and maintenance, while digital villagers visited Yamakoshi, deepening their interactions with each village and organization. Through these exchanges, we identified the fundamental issues facing the region. In weekly meetings, we discussed these issues and worked on finding solutions.
Specifically, we supported the joint sports festival at Yamakoshi Elementary and Junior High School, assisted with the direct sales festival organized by the local parents, managed the fan club for the bullfighting event, and were also involved in the October 23rd memorial day for the Chuetsu Earthquake. By struggling, challenging ourselves, and sharing successes together, both real residents of Yamakoshi and digital villagers have gradually developed a sense of being "partners in creating the community." I feel that the past year has been one where this shared awareness was nurtured.
Crypto Village: It's incredible that digital villagers are going to support the Yamakoshi sports festival.
Takakeuchi: It really is. But this wasn’t the way things were from the start. For the people of Yamakoshi, "digital villagers" were initially a bit of an unfamiliar concept. However, when they actually visited and expressed a desire to "learn more about Yamakoshi" and "teach us," it was natural to want to share that knowledge with them. At first, it felt more like a "customer" relationship, but now it has evolved into a more open connection. It feels like "points have connected, and now we are linking areas together."
Normally, in a community sports festival, it’s mostly just the parents involved, but from the Yamakoshi organizations, there were voices saying, "Let's have the digital villagers join us!" and from the digital villagers, we heard, "We want to support the kids' efforts!" This all naturally came together.
Crypto Village: What are the current challenges facing Yamakoshi?
Takakeuchi: When issuing NFTs, I initially envisioned gathering digital villagers to take on the role of "cooperation" in the "self-reliance, public assistance, and mutual assistance" framework. Since the Chuetsu Earthquake, I believe that both the residents and everyone involved have repeatedly tackled challenges while taking on the roles of "self-reliance" and "mutual assistance" to the fullest. Of course, this has been supported by the government at the national, prefectural, and municipal levels. It's been 20 years since the earthquake, and 3 years since the issuance of NFTs, but the roles of "self-reliance, mutual assistance, and public assistance" are continuing to evolve.
The difficulties facing Yamakoshi are becoming even more severe, and I have shared the real, urgent issues Yamakoshi is facing, such as budget and manpower, with the digital villagers. Because I trust them, we are working together to think through these issues and move forward.
Crypto Village: Given these circumstances, what is Neo Yamakoshi Village aiming for?
Takakeuchi: To be blunt, and without fear of misunderstanding, our true goal is to be self-sustaining while supporting one another. In reality, every municipality is dealing with issues like declining tax revenue due to population loss and municipal adjustments to improve cost-effectiveness. While I think it's difficult for "Yamakoshi Village" to be fully self-sustaining, I hope we can create a new concept like "Neo Yamakoshi Village Nation" in a special zone format.
If we could gain the rights and responsibilities similar to those of a local government, it would open up opportunities to utilize mechanisms like hometown tax donations and corporate hometown tax donations. However, it’s also challenging to rely entirely on the government, so I’m thinking about strengthening the finances of Neo Yamakoshi Village and establishing a system that can negotiate it as an investment opportunity. If the development of national strategy special zones and DAO laws progresses, this goal may come even closer to realization. It’s also important to continue efforts to gain understanding from local governments.
Next time, we’ll be featuring an interview with Reeman, a digital villager who works as Takakeuchi’s manager! Stay tuned!
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