Crypto Village Newsletter #43 - 8/15
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:
Shift Your Plans, Deepen the Connection: A Journey of Art and Local Discovery (Last)
This is the last of a blog post series originally published in a Japanese magazine.
Shift Your Plans, Deepen the Connection: A Journey of Art and Local Discovery
To wrap up our series, we spoke with Yuki Tanaka from JR Central, who co-led this project with paramita Inc. We asked him about how the project began and what it means for regional communities.
Crypto Village: How did you get involved in this project? What were you thinking when you started, especially in terms of supporting local culture and communities?
Tanaka: At JR Central, we work in many fields, retail, real estate, and hospitality, but we didn’t have much experience with small town or countryside revitalization. We were looking for ways to get involved when we discovered paramita’s work online. Their community-based projects, like Local Coop and SINRA, caught our attention.
We were especially interested because these projects were happening in towns like Owase and Misakubo—places along our train lines. That led us to reach out to paramita and explore working together. We wanted to create something that would highlight and support the areas along the Tokaido Shinkansen.
From the beginning, paramita helped us shape the project. The idea was to link Shinkansen travel with social impact—making it an “ethical travel” option. A portion of each tour fee would go to local causes. So just by choosing the Shinkansen, travelers could support the areas they pass through. That gave a deeper meaning to the journey.
JR Central recently launched a new long-term vision: Group Vision 2032: Challenge and Practice. It focuses on building stronger partnerships with local governments and organizations. This project is a good example of that shift. Instead of relying only on train revenue, we’re working with others to create value in new ways. Supporting local communities is key to our long term growth.
Crypto Village: What did you learn about building relationships with communities through this project?
Tanaka: I visited both Misakubo and Owase, where the pilot programs took place. In Misakubo, I joined a local meeting hosted by paramita, and in Owase, I attended a forest restoration workshop. It was inspiring to talk directly with local residents and feel how open they were to working together. They really welcomed us.
At JR Central, we’ve also been working on a larger project called conomichi, which is about building long-term relationships with people in our service areas. This initiative fits well with that idea. What’s special here is that we’re using digital art based on local culture as a way for people to show their connection to these places. We just launched it officially, and we hope both locals and visitors will enjoy it.
If we only looked at profits, it wouldn’t make sense to invest in small mountain towns. But through this project, we saw that true value comes from being part of the community and growing together. That’s what real sustainability looks like.
Crypto Village: What kind of projects do you want to work on in the future to connect cities and local areas, or businesses and local culture?
Mr. Tanaka: With our new “Zurashi Tabi Ethical Rewards,” we’re offering a new kind of travel experience. By taking the Shinkansen, people can help support local areas, and in return, they receive a piece of digital art to show their contribution. First, we want to focus on getting more people to try this program. If many people join, we can use the money to do even more for local communities, and maybe work with more regions in the future.
Japan has many local areas with unique and interesting cultures. Railways play an important role in connecting these places with cities. If more people travel between cities and local areas, it also helps keep the train system strong. We want to work with each area to share what makes them special, and help more people visit and enjoy those places.
Introducing Our Interviewee
Yuki Tanaka
Assistant Manager, Regional Business Development, Business Promotion Department, Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)
Yuki has a background as a railway architecture engineer, working on station design and station building development. In July 2023, he joined his current department, which was launched through an internal recruitment program. Since then, he has been involved in regional business development and community-building projects in collaboration with local areas.
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