Japanese Tech Firms Partner to Create Metaverse Economic Zone

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• Japanese tech companies have partnered to develop the country’s virtual world
• The companies want to build what they call the Japan Metaverse Economic Zone
• The firms will also develop an open metaverse infrastructure

Japanese companies spread across the finance, manufacturing and technology sectors have partnered to create the Japan Metaverse Economic Zone. Their coming together will also see the country boast of an open metaverse infrastructure where users can access services from companies and government agencies. The partnership comes roughly a month after the country’s prime minister Fumio Kishida announced that the country is targeting to use Web 3.0 to publicize innovations.

Updating Japan Through Games

According to an announcement, the economic zone aims to link various metaverse-focused efforts in the country, with the aim of allowing participation by non-Japanese entities in the future. The firms will bring in their individual technologies to make the open metaverse dubbed Ryugukoku a success.

The open metaverse will take the form of a “role-playing game” since it’s based on the concept of “updating Japan through the power of games.” 

Ryugukoku will also provide the necessary infrastructure needed to traverse between metaverse platforms as well as offer a place to socialize and disseminate information. The platform also aims to use avatars with special skills such as auto-learning to collect users’ data to offer customized experiences. 

A Magic Passport

Other aspects of Ryugukoku include a magic passport that facilitates payments and identification and acts as a memory bank for the avatars. The partnership also includes different roles for different companies. 

For example, Mizuho Financial Group will provide functions and expertise in the magic passport while Resona Holdings will provide “joint research in future lifestyles and next-generation ID authentication and payments.”

Although other countries like Spain and South Korea have also shown interest in the metaverse, the partnership between top Japanese companies puts Japan at the forefront of country-based metaverse efforts.