NFT Market in Japan
Japan's NFT market originated from cooperation with domestic animation and entertainment idols, focusing on local culture, and culture has become an important cornerstone of Japan's NFT projects.
Key Takeaways:
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Japan's NFT industry has three characteristics: extensive intellectual property (IP), low FUD level, and a strong and close project community.
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This article introduces three major NFT projects in Japan, namely Murakami Flowers, Crypto Ninja Partners and MetaSamurai.
Japan not only has a rich and long history of video games, but also has the largest number of IP (intellectual property) in the world. These cultures have transcended national borders and become globally known.
Beloved Japanese anime such as "Naruto", "Dragon Ball" and "Ghost in the Shell" have millions of fans around the world, laying a solid foundation for the development of the blockchain game and NFT industry. Because of this, Japan's NFT community also has unique aesthetics and preferences that are different from those in other parts of the world.
If you want to know more about the Japanese cryptocurrency market, you can check out the full report here: Japan Crypto Market Report: Industry Trends and Future Prospects Study.
The unique development path of NFT in Japan
Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a special digital asset whose uniqueness and irreplaceability determine its value. NFT utilizes blockchain technology to guarantee its ownership and verifiable authenticity.
Since early 2018, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have created a buzz in Japan’s cryptocurrency space. Come 2021, with the global frenzy for NFTs, it will become more popular in Japan.
The development of NFT in Japan has obvious characteristics and remains independent from global trends. In the NFT market, Japan is mainly based on domestic animation and idols, using existing intellectual property content to cooperate with fan communities. This makes Japan's NFT mainly develops in the domestic market.
However, with the rise of the "Bored Ape Yacht Club" (BAYC), NFT items for collections have begun to emerge. Takashi Murakami's "Murakami Flowers" is Japan's first project to build overseas user groups. Takashi Murakami has gained international reputation through cooperation with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hublot, and has become an important reason for promoting the attention of Japanese NFTs on a global scale.
The Japanese have a soft spot for their own culture and art, which provides natural support for local projects. Takashi Murakami demonstrated Japanese culture through NFT, and this cultural emotion has become an important driving force for the Japanese to support his project.
In addition, we have also noticed the increasing acceptance of NFT by the Japanese native community. Japan has a tax system called "Furusato Nozei" that allows taxpayers to donate part of their taxes to local governments, and in return they receive some local specialties.
Recently, some local governments have started using NFTs as a way to express their gratitude. This practice is unique to Japan, and it combines rural revitalization and digital art, highlighting the unique aesthetics of Japanese digital art and the great potential of local resources.
In general, the three major characteristics of the Japanese NFT industry are:
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Abundant intellectual property resources: Japan has a large number of popular IP resources, including anime, manga, and video games, which can be used to create attractive NFT collections.
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Low FUD Levels: : There is very little FUD in the cryptocurrency gaming community in Japan, most likely because Japanese culture generally avoids direct criticism and expressing grievances. This is especially evident among NFT newcomers and startup community members.
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Tight-Knit Community: The small size of the cryptocurrency community in Japan helps to develop a more efficient and close-knit community by increasing cooperation and building common goals.
Overview of popular NFT projects in Japan
Murakami Flowers
Murakami.Flowers Official (@MFTMKKUS) / Twitter
Takashi Murakami is an acclaimed Japanese artist known for his colorful works and unique artistic style. The Murakami.Flowers project (MF for short) initiated by him is a comprehensive project covering art, design and digital creation. The project takes the number "108" as the core (consisting of 108 backgrounds and 108 small flowers), which echoes the numbers related to afflictions or secular temptations in Buddhism, which means that the artist tries to transcend the shackles of the world through digital art.
There are a total of 11,664 NFTs (108*108) in this series. In terms of NFT distribution, the whitelist (Whitelist) pre-sale will be distributed to 3,000 RTFKT CloneX holders with Murakami Drip and 500 other event participants, Takashi Murakami himself keeps about 4,000, and the remaining 6,751 Open to the public for sale.
In terms of price, the price of whitelist participants is 0.0727 ETH; while the price of public sale participants is 0.108 ETH. Limit one purchase per wallet. The actual sale will take place in April 2023, with each purchaser receiving a "seed" NFT, which will thereafter evolve into a unique flower.
Although the price of his NFT has continued to drop since September 2022, Murakami is still actively involved in the project and expanding his MF universe.
Murakami.Flowers Official (M.F) Price
Unlike typical NFT items, this series of NFT holder airdrops includes not only NFT sub-series, but also a series of physical goods, such as original T-shirts, Tamagotchi-like toys "Flower Go Walk", and MF-based trading card collectibles .
From the perspective of market activity, the floor price of the MF series is continuing to drop, and the current trading price is about $600, second only to Crypto Ninja Partners (described below).
The floor price of NFT is determined by actual market participants, and those who have advantageous opportunities, such as those who receive whitelist allocation, will have a significant impact on the actual transaction price. Although the floor price has declined, NFT art is only one aspect of the art field, so Takashi Murakami has been working hard to bring his project to a broader development direction.
Crypto Ninja Partners
[Official] CNP | CryptoNinja Partners (@cnp_ninjadao) / Twitter
Crypto Ninja Partners (CNP) is a Japanese ninja-themed NFT series that originally originated in a community called NinjaDAO. Although NinjaDAO is not strictly a DAO organization, this community has gathered many cryptocurrency enthusiasts from Japan. Two core figures, Ikehaya (Japanese NFT KOL and Web Marketer) and Road (another core contributor), have jointly promoted the development of CNP.
The CNP series NFT was originally issued in May 2022 with an initial price of only 0.001 ETH and contains 22,222 items. The initial sales price of NFT is generally set at 0.05-0.08 ETH, but the original intention of CNP is to start at a price that is close to the people, so that people who do not know much about NFT can also participate. Holders can benefit from potential value growth instead of starting with a price as high as 0.08 ETH.
This strategy has achieved great success and won the trust of holders, pushing the floor price above 2 ETH, and making CNP one of the successful NFT projects in Japan.
Crypto Ninja Partners (CNP) Floor Price
CNP's strategy mainly consists of distributing a large number of sub-series and family-series whitelists to holders at a price of 0.001 ETH. In the early stages of the project, this strategy effectively stimulates the activity of the project by giving CNP holders priority minting rights. However, as the market environment deteriorates, CNP also seems to have difficulty attracting more new users to the community.
Since the project was launched, the founders and community members have been promoting the project in various ways, and have used several major roles as community IP to assist the operation and marketing of the community. The community is also working hard to promote the development of CNP, and has enhanced the influence of the CNP brand through the development of mobile games and exclusive apps for holders. In addition, CNP holders can also enjoy exclusive services provided by more than 160 partner restaurants, hotels and other venues in Japan, such as getting some special service discounts.
The project's emphasis on community sets it apart from other projects mentioned in this article, and we can see that CNP takes full advantage of Japan's strengths in IP creation.
Meta Samurai
1BLOCK STUDIO®︎ (@1block_official) / Twitter
Presented by Los Angeles and Tokyo-based creative team "1BLOCK®︎", MetaSamurai is a collection of 3,333 unique 3D avatar NFTs. The goal of the project is to build brands in the digital fashion space by empowering creators.
MetaSamurai is a collection of 3,333 unique 3D avatar NFTs presented by the creative team "1BLOCK®︎" in Los Angeles and Tokyo. The project's vision is to build a digital fashion brand and empower creators.
The core concept of the project is "I GOT YOUR BACK", which symbolizes MetaSamurai's commitment to supporting its NFT holders. The phrase "I GOT YOUR BACK" originated from a story about two people fighting back to back and protecting each other; the spirit of the samurai is resolutely dedicating himself to protecting the lord; the loyal dog Hachiko has been waiting for more than ten years late master. These are the sources of inspiration for MetaSamurai's work.
This series of NFTs will initially start minting in June 2022 with a public sale price of 0.05 ETH.
In 2022, its price fluctuates around the initial price, but by early 2023, the series begins to appreciate significantly.
In addition, another unique feature of this project is the cooperation with many companies and brands in Japan. They have achieved numerous collaborations with well-known partners such as "Ghost in the Shell", "Ghost in the Shell STAND ALONE COMPLEX", "BEAMS CULTUART", "Coach", "Lupine the Third" and "Atmos x Space Brothers" cooperate.
1Block sees MetaSamurai not only as a series of ordinary NFTs, but also as a digital fashion brand. This sets it apart from other projects releasing series of NFTs. The highly anticipated MetaSamurai 2 series is expected to introduce personalized MetaSamurais wearables, offering fashion brands a fresh perspective and facilitating the development of original projects.
summary
The NFT industry in Japan has unique development characteristics. Taking advantage of Japan's unique aesthetics and local resources, Japan's NFT business has shown great potential, and its future development is worth looking forward to.
However, for the industry, how to make Japanese NFT projects attract international attention is still an unresolved problem. These Japanese projects may need to strengthen marketing and promotion activities, communicate with NFT projects in other countries, and promote the development of cross-border cooperation.
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