
<p>A technologically advanced society like Japan is a natural place for non-fungible tokens to flourish. And while the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1278047/global-nft-adoption-by-country/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adoption of NFTs has been slow in Japan</a> thus far, we believe the conditions are ideal for sustained growth and innovation.</p>



<h2>NFT’s Home in the East</h2>



<p>Japanese values align with the essential nature of NFTs. For instance, <em>omoiyari</em> — awareness and consideration of others — is taught to Japanese school children from an early age. This principle parallels the community building and concern for barriers to entry common to NFT projects. Values like <em>ganbaru</em> (effort) and <em>gaman</em> (enduring) cultivated from years of quality education and broader socialization propel continued learning essential to Web3 technologies and overcoming barriers.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Japanese NFT community is in its early days. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the community from the standpoint of cultural exports, namely the mangaverse and gaming.</p>



<h2>Anime and the Mangaverse</h2>



<p>Japanese animation, known as anime, takes inspiration from manga. Manga parallel the comic books of the Western world from which they arose after World War II. And so we have the term ‘mangaverse’ which plays off &#8216;metaverse&#8217;. The visual nature and rich heritage behind established manga and anime present natural opportunities for transfer into the metaverse in the form of non-fungible tokens.&nbsp;</p>



<h3>Otaku Coin</h3>



<p><a href="https://otaku-coin.com/#content01" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OtakuCoin</a> presents itself as a community for anime lovers. <em>Otaku </em>is a Japanese term that refers to someone with an intense interest in something, often anime. In the OtakuCoin app, community members receive coins by expressing their adoration for anime, watching trailers, and sharing information to social media. The direct feedback anime studios receive closes the gap between audience and creators.</p>



<h3>CloneX: Murakami x RTKFT</h3>



<p>One popular mangaverse NFT project is CloneX. According to our data at the time of writing this article, <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/clonex" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CloneX ranks sixth among collectibles</a> offered on the Ethereum blockchain. <a href="https://rtfkt.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RTFKT</a> (pronounced &#8216;artifact&#8217;) and contemporary Japanese artist <a href="https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Takashi Murakami</a> collaborated on this project that blends commercial art, streetwear, and metaverse experimentation in the shape of avatars. The collaboration makes sense because RTFKT is a strictly metaverse brand while <a href="https://moneyinc.com/richest-painters/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Murakami is one of the wealthiest living artists</a>. His name brings instant recognition and credibility to any project.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Unlike offerings from legacy brands, the CloneX team emphasizes how their creation has been made for the metaverse rather than transferred into it from an historical brand&#8217;s back catalog. Their Web3 avatars can be worn by their owners in the metaverse. At the same time, we can see correspondences between Murakami&#8217;s earlier work where cute, manga-inspired characters float amid flat abstract landscapes on a swooping wave from <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/art/the-british-museum-is-auctioning-hokusai-nft-art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hokusai</a>. </p>



<p>However, in the form of an NFT, Murakami&#8217;s work becomes closer to the audience, an extension of its owner whereas his prior work existed as objects alone. That NFTs can drive innovation in the work of one of the world&#8217;s most celebrated artists speaks to their generational rarity as a force for artistic metamorphosis.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/MY9sX3n2MhwxjU4xd8jlOi3hsnYBT1PHz2cRDkL9ie03A8Dgbqw5lQlGHnA8c7EqwRPjiDl4U7i9BcjnmqG4t5poWP6ovx1Fihpbv-JL-Mn65417rV7Bwe-w66f4vP1McYy02VcM5qjQ_5UU7g" alt=""/><figcaption>Source: <a href="https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/</a></figcaption></figure></div>



<h3>Murakami.Flowers</h3>



<p>The cuteness of Clone X avatars comes with an edge. On the other hand, <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/murakami-flowers-2022-official?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_account=6961136327&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_matchtype=&amp;utm_campaignid=17264336081&amp;utm_adgroupid=139260598520&amp;wpsrc=Google%20AdWords&amp;wpcid=17264336081&amp;wpsnetn=g&amp;wpkwn=&amp;wpkmatch=&amp;wpcrid=598001043060&amp;wpscid=139260598520&amp;wpkwid=dsa-1656996903288&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwyYKUBhDJARIsAMj9lkFfjoGvAFMvBqPUmi25Ptskihk0WCQ6_mXwNjxWFy7v7Vfz641ftU0aAmVNEALw_wcB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Murakami’s flowers project</a> takes the edge off in bright dot art that calls back to Japanese TV games of the 1970s. There is some menace lurking though. The number 108, which alludes to <em>bonnō</em>, or earthly temptations, counterpoints their colorful exuberance. That same number also serves as a pivot point for the project because the combination of 108 backgrounds and 108 flower images add up to the total 11,664 non-fungible tokens available.</p>



<h3>NFT Festa 2022</h3>



<p>Held completely in the metaverse in the Spring of 2022, <a href="https://nftfesta.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFT Festa</a> brought together over 500 NFT artists with an emphasis on French and Japanese creators. The week-long event was free to attend and required no cryptowallet. Anyone who could create a project was allowed to submit their data, which argues for the more level playing field of NFTs. Unknowns could find themselves adjacent to a recognized, respected figure in the exhibition!</p>



<h3>Azuki</h3>



<p>At the time of this article’s posting, <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/azuki" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Azuki ranked as the fifth most popular NFT project among collectibles</a> according to our data. Purchase of an Azuki NFT grants a user entrance to The Garden metaverse. At the core of the <a href="https://www.azuki.com/garden" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Azuki</a> metaverse we find the ethos that guides NFTs themselves:&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li>building open communities</li><li>consciously going against barriers that recur and restrict in the real world</li><li>decentralized decision making</li><li>upcoming physical world features</li></ul>



<p>Although Azuki is directly inspired by manga culture, we wanted to precise that <strong>the project is not Japanese</strong>. It does, however, mark a recognition of the NFT community in relation to this culture.</p>



<h2>Blockchain Gaming and Japan</h2>



<p>Games are common to many non-fungible token projects. In the very early stage of blockchain gaming, two japanese games were released: <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/game/discover-my-crypto-heroes-on-nonfungible-com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">My Crypto Heroes</a> and <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/bravefrontierheroes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brave Frontier Heroes</a> by Double Jump Tokyo. But we could say that the approval of the Enjin Coin by the Japanese Virtual Currency Exchange Association in March 2021 opened the door for more projects in the Japanese market.</p>



<p>The Azuki community plans a game for its metaverse and Murakami&#8217;s NFT flowers recall the early years of Japanese gaming. Some of those early gaming brands are still in operation. Among them, <a href="https://nintendoeverything.com/nintendos-full-comments-on-the-metaverse-and-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nintendo</a> and <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/sega-files-trademark-for-sega-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sega</a> have voiced interest in NFT projects, though they’ve yet to describe the shape their projects might take. <a href="https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Square Enix</a>, on the other hand, has fully committed to the potential of NFTs, blockchain games, and the metaverse in general</p>



<h3>The Enjin Ecosystem</h3>



<p>Thus far, <a href="https://enjin.io/blog/enjin-coin-japan-listing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Enjin Coin</a>&#8216;s (ENJ) major contribution consists of receiving approval from the Japanese Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA). ENJ is the first gaming token to receive such approval. It was created by the Singapore-based company of the same name whose gaming platform has over 20 million users. </p>



<p>ENJ&#8221;s main strength is that it&#8217;s designed with gaming in mind, unlike many other cryptocurrencies. Enjin serves as a common currency across multiple games where players can earn NFT loot.</p>



<h3>Square Enix and the NFT ecosystem</h3>



<p>We can see from their<a href="https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/2022/html/a_new_years_letter_from_the_president_2.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> President’s New Year’s Letter</a> how the metaverse converges with the company’s research and development of AI, XR, and the cloud space. <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2022/05/01/embracer-agrees-to-buy-crystal-dynamics-eidos-montreal-square-enix-montreal-and-their-ip/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Square Enix&#8217;s recent sale</a> of some of their major Western intellectual properties to the Embracer Group for $300 million quantifies the brand&#8217;s commitment to funding metaverse ventures, including NFTs.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Dungeon Siege x The Sandbox - Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-QEOTkxyQ-o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>Dungeon Siege, a Square Enix property, already features in The Sandbox. <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/thesandbox">The Sandbox</a> is an Ethereum-based metaverse built on NFT collectibles. Within The Sandbox, Dungeon Siege players will be able to buy plots of NFTs of LAND and in-game items like avatars.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The dynamic between Dungeon Siege and The Sandbox resembles that of the Murakami-RTFKT collaboration: an established metaverse entity and a real-world entity contribute their strengths to exchange benefits that NFT enthusiasts can enjoy. Square Enix has made popular role-playing games (RPGs) for decades, Dungeon Siege being one such title. The Sandbox has established itself as a premier metaverse that has garnered collaborations with <a href="https://www.sandbox.game/en/snoopdogg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Snoop Dogg</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/sandbox-game/the-sandbox-partners-with-shibuya109-to-launch-shibuya109-land-f116ed4beed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SHIBUYA109 Entertainment Corporation</a>.</p>



<h2>Preserving cultural authenticity with NFTs</h2>



<p>Authenticity carries or sinks many NFT projects. When a nation’s cultural heritage plays a role, as Japan’s does in the cultural exports we’ve discussed here, we argue that authenticity is an even greater concern. NFT and metaverse creators who call back to rich cultural history would do well to build it in as a foundational concern. Likewise for investors. An appealing surface could disguise cultural and historical missteps in a project that attempts to draw on the past without consideration for context.</p>



<p>That said, the mangaverse has been established world-wide and big-name Japanese companies have begun to invest heavily in the metaverse. This is a sound foundation for future collaborations and innovations for years to come in the Japanese NFT market.</p>


The Japanese NFT community is in its early days. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the community from the standpoint of cultural exports, namely the mangaverse and gaming.

NFTs & Japanese Culture: a rising, diverse community


<p><a href="https://www.luckynftigers.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lucky NFTigers</a> is a project founded by 4 entrepreneurs aiming to be registered as an <a href="https://www.rslartunion.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Australian Art Union</a>. It is thanks to this registration that we will be able to legally utilize NFTs and ETH in this lottery.</p>



<p>The project&#8217;s mission is to guarantee the optimal success rate while participating in one of the biggest Raffles in the ecosystem. Like any lottery, the entry price is low, but the prizes are high.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In short, the Lucky NFTigers project is an Elite Giveaway Community, which plans to enrich the holders in the form of Ethereum, NFT&#8217;s, and prize giveaways, just by holding one (or many) raffles. They aim to create a reputable, transparent business grown organically in the Crypto Community.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>The Lucky NFTigers tokenomics</h2>



<p>The collection has a supply of 10,000 NFTs that will be distributed in three waves. 3,333 Lucky NFTigers will be distributed in individual raffles.The opening date of the mint is not yet announced,</p>



<p>These NFTs will not be stacked as a proof of collateral, or used in a video game. However, each <a href="https://www.luckynftigers.io/LNFTWhitepaper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lucky NFTigers NFT holder</a> will be eligible for the first 3 months for giveaways at the value of $1.29M USD across different prize pools. </p>



<p>Each Lucky NFTigers NFT will cost approximately $450 for whitelist/presale and $500 for public sale. Each address will be allowed to mint up to 4 Lucky NFTigers.</p>



<h2>The usecase of the Lucky NFTigers</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="222" src="http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/lucky-nftigers-avatar-1024x222.jpg" alt="lucky nftigers avatar" class="wp-image-22799" srcset="http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/lucky-nftigers-avatar-1024x222.jpg 1024w, http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/lucky-nftigers-avatar-300x65.jpg 300w, http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/lucky-nftigers-avatar-768x166.jpg 768w, http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/lucky-nftigers-avatar.jpg 1299w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



<p>Being part of this elite giveaway community makes you eligible for several giveaways. The rewards are as follows:</p>



<ul><li>Monthly giveaway: $300,000 split up into different amounts (depending on the votes of the community)&nbsp;</li><li>Weekly giveaways: $25,000</li><li>Daily giveaways: $1000</li></ul>



<p>Since the supply is fixed, each NFT gives a one in 10,000 chance of winning. The more NFTs you own, the more likely you will be drawn.</p>



<p>The NFTs will also allow you to participate in the votes of the prizes to be won. It will be the community that decides if it wants to win a <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/boredapeclub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BAYC</a>, a <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/cryptopunks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoPunks</a> or a <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/moonbirds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moonbirds</a>.</p>



<p>Each month, $25,000 will be donated to charitable projects located near the home of the project&#8217;s founders.</p>



<h2>What are the next steps?</h2>



<p>Once the mint is finished, in addition to the various lotteries to come, several objectives will already be in preparation:</p>



<ul><li>Roadmap 2.0 which will be an NFT raffle (capped at our odds of 1 in 10,000)</li><li>Rewards for certain traits in the original collection that will be revealed at a later date.&nbsp;</li><li>Parties in different cities with your Lucky NFTigers NFT acting as a ticket.</li><li>Lucky NFTiger merchandise&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p>The rest of the project is therefore focused on two axes: lotteries for holders and donations to charities based in Australia.</p>



<p>To be registered on the Whitelist, it is necessary to be part of the <a href="https://discord.gg/3zkJH3FkSg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lucky NFTigers Discord</a> and follow the instructions on the dedicated channel. Make sure to follow them on social media to keep up to date with news or ask questions!</p>



<p><a href="https://www.luckynftigers.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Website</a> &#8211; <a href="https://twitter.com/LuckyNFTigers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a> &#8211; <a href="https://discord.gg/3zkJH3FkSg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Discord</a> &#8211; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/luckynftigers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a></p>



<p class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color">Disclaimer: This is a sponsored article. No content or article should be considered as financial advice. We strongly recommend you to conduct due diligence and always do your own research before investing in a project.     </p>


There are plenty of Raffles in the NFT ecosystem with opportunities to win different types of prizes. Lucky NFTigers wants to introduce a fairer giveaway project to its community.

Facing the Raffle Odds with Lucky NFTigers


<h2>Jæn, Crypto Artist and Art Director</h2>



<p><strong>Besancia</strong>: Hello Jæn and thank you for your time! As part of <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/corporate/nft-heroes-07-paul-fxhash" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our series on the key players in the ecosystem</a>, I wanted to ask you a few questions, firstly let me ask you to introduce yourself.</p>



<p><strong>Jæn</strong>: I started my artistic career in traditional, physical art, 3D printed street art and augmented reality. I also made a lot of commercial illustrations with clients like Disney, Diesel and PayPal. I had been playing with digital for a while, and I felt that you shouldn&#8217;t necessarily wait until you have a physical justification to create a digital work.</p>



<p>In 2020, when I discovered NFTs it answered all the questions I was asking myself. No need to have a physical medium to enhance digital art. It already works, there is a lively culture.. I switched to full-time at the end of 2020 without hesitation.</p>



<h2>Do you have a project right now?</h2>



<p><strong>Jæn</strong>: Yes! It&#8217;s called The Big Dream, with a collective named Dreame. We managed to form a team of more than 60 artists from all over the planet and above all, with more than 50% women! Parity is something that is very important for this project.&nbsp;</p>



<p>We collect dreams from all over the world. The concept is very simple: just go to <a href="https://big.drea.me" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">big.drea.me</a> and give your vision of the world in 2030. How would you dream of the world in 2030?</p>



<p>We collected thousands of dreams from all over the world and then the artists drew from this database and illustrated it. It&#8217;s really quite a moving and special experience, it feels like you&#8217;re digging into the subconscious of humanity.</p>



<p>Among these artworks, we made 500 that we then merged to make a single large one. This set has already been exhibited all around the world: Time Square, Shibuya, Spain, London&#8230; And we want to continue to go around the world to continue to bring people and their dreams closer together through this artistic project!</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="955" height="728" src="http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/dreame-exhibit-location.jpg" alt="dreame exhibit location" class="wp-image-22721" srcset="http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/dreame-exhibit-location.jpg 955w, http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/dreame-exhibit-location-300x229.jpg 300w, http://100.96.1.66:3001/app/uploads/2022/05/dreame-exhibit-location-768x585.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 955px) 100vw, 955px" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.big.drea.me/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Drea.me</a> exhibition location</figcaption></figure></div>



<p>This big patchwork new work was sold as an <a href="https://niftygateway.com/marketplace/collection/0x7a40dceff3693d6274a17bc11b00ab1afaa8a581" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">open edition on Nifty Gateway</a>. And this collage was also sent to the International Space Station to be exhibited inside, the first cryptoart to do so!</p>



<p>There will also be an auction of a unique edition that will allow the collector to choose from the 500 works in order to make it a &#8220;curated collection&#8221;. A third of the profits generated by the sales of this new collection would be donated to the artist selected by the collector, a third to whole collection and therefore a third to the Collector-Curator. That’s the current plan.</p>



<p>15% of the sales will be donated to charities in total, 10% of which will be managed by the collectors of the 2 NFTs, with a distribution inspired by the dreams collected. For example, if there are 15% who dream of stopping the war in the world, 15% of the funds will be used for this cause.</p>



<h2>How do you see the NFT ecosystem in 5 years?</h2>



<p><strong>Jæn</strong>: It&#8217;s complicated, there are a lot of predictions. Everyone gets excited about blockchain gaming but it&#8217;s when everyone is excited about something that you need to take a step back right? I’ve noticed that the game design, scenario or gameplay parts are often overlooked in the Play to Earn (P2E) games I’ve seen. Players are happy to make money but don&#8217;t say &#8220;I&#8217;m happy playing the game&#8221;.</p>



<p>Some say that art or visual creation will fade with NFTs. I disagree with that, every artist manages to use NFTs in a way  so specific to them that it will necessarily give way to something very interesting. I don&#8217;t see a logical explanation why <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/art/the-cryptoart-movement" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crypto-art</a> would go away.</p>



<p>I also think that NFTs will develop into everyday applications, with <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/utility/fixing-event-ticketing-with-nft" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFT concert tickets</a> or membership passes for example. By a big adoption, rather a generalisation. To return to art, generative art is finding its place but it is especially programmable art that I find incredible. On Async Art in particular, there is no need to know how to code to make programmable art! For a code newbie like me, it&#8217;s just perfect. If this could be the direction that NFTs are taking in the future, tout would be the dream!</p>



<h2>In your opinion, what is the barrier to NFT &#8220;mass adoption&#8221; by the general public?</h2>



<p><strong>Jæn</strong>: I would say learning how to manage a wallet. Even if today there are custodial solutions that allow you to have a wallet just thanks to a login and a password, this brings some complications. For example, with our drop on Nifty Gateway, we realised that as long as the NFT was held on the platform, it did not really exist. You can&#8217;t interact with it (except with an API but it&#8217;s extremely complicated). It&#8217;s good for a bigger adoption but it has limits.</p>



<p>I don&#8217;t really see how to simplify it, maybe it just takes time for people to learn how to use a wallet?</p>



<h2>Conclusion</h2>



<p>As we progress through our series of interviews from ecosystem players, it becomes so apparent that the future will be rich with innovative ideas and projects.&nbsp;</p>



<p>These will no doubt form the basis for a new digital reality likely to span over the next few decades shaping the world to come across multiple industries..</p>


During the Non Fungible Conference in Lisbon, which took place 4-5 April 2022, we were honored to have been able to interview key players from across the NFT ecosystem. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with crypto artist Jæn who was kind enough to answer our questions!

NFT Heroes #8: Jæn

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