Ten Companies Team Up to Build the Japan Metaverse Economic Zone

Renowned Japanese firms Fujitsu, Mizuho, MUFG, and others are teaming up to build an open and interoperable metaverse ecosystem, a Monday press release by Fujitsu stated. The metaverses will provide users with a role-playing game (RPG) experience, allowing users to traverse across different realms and experience “a variety of content and services.”

The Japan Metaverse Economic Zone (JMEZ)

Ten major Japanese companies have agreed to build an open metaverse ecosystem and create the Japan Metaverse Economic Zone (JMEZ). Companies participating in this project include Mizuho Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), and Fujitsu, among others.

The open metaverse infrastructure, with an interim name of RYUGUKOKU, will be built using the metaverse construction framework known as Pegasus World Kit, developed by JP Games. This company is founded by the renowned game creator Hajime Tabata, who also serves as a Web3 advisor for the Japanese Government’s Digital Agency.

As per the announcement, the deal is based on Tabata’s concept of “updating Japan through the power of games,” where each service and piece of content inside the open metaverse “takes on the form of a moving “city,” “castle,” or “vehicle” that roams around that virtual world.” Such a concept allows users to participate in an RPG experience as they roam between different realms.

Furthermore, RYUGUKOKU will provide an open and secure metaverse infrastructure offering secure identity authentication, payments, data infrastructure, and insurance services through collaboration with high-profile financial institutions. The infrastructure will also enable interoperability between different metaverse platforms, allowing them to traverse virtual worlds with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), avatar clothing, and identity.

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Japan’s Foray into Metaverse and Web3

The initiative represents the latest foray by Japanese companies into the Web3 and metaverse spaces, which have experienced a slowdown in growth in the past year due to a broader market downturn. But despite these headwinds, numerous Japan-based firms such as Ava Labs and Konami continued to bet on the metaverse.

Even the Japanese government adopted steps to liberalize the industry last year, announcing plans to ease the crypto token listing process after the contagious FTX collapse. The new rules enable crypto exchanges to list crypto coins without undergoing a lengthy pre-screening.

Companies that participate in building the RYUGUKOKU said they also plan to provide the infrastructure to companies and government agencies outside Japan to expand the JMEZ globally.

What part of the RYUGUKOKU concept did you find most interesting? Let us know in the comments below.