TOKYO: Trading of digital assets, including manga, art pieces, music and cards of idols, as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, is attracting attention in Japan as a way to create new relationships between fans and artists.

NFTs use blockchains, the basic technology for cryptoassets, making it virtually impossible to counterfeit or duplicate the tokens. NFTs also serve as certificates to prove the authenticity of digital works.

An NFT trading platform called Kollektion collaborated with Japanese publisher Kodansha Ltd.’s Young Magazine weekly manga magazine late last year and sold a limited number of NFTs of each page of a newly started manga series. The first batch sold out in 12 hours.

Such projects allow readers to support their favorite artists while receiving exclusive benefits.

“An era of owning digital assets may come although it’s been said that consumer mindset has changed from owning to sharing,” said Daisuke Iwase, co-founder and CEO of KLKTN Ltd., the operator of Kollektion.

This spring, Kollektion plans to introduce a new service allowing users to trade NFTs between them. The service will make it possible for original creators to get fair compensations even when their works are resold, possibly becoming a new source of revenue for artists.

Since last year, digital artworks have been sold as NFTs in auctions.

In March 2021, such work fetched 69.3 million dollars in an NFT art auction, making headlines around the world. 

Unlike stock transactions, however, rules and laws on NFT trading have yet to be established. It is therefore unclear what kind of rights NFT owners have and where the responsibility lies in case of trouble.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has established a project team to devise related policy proposals.

At a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, Kenji Wakamiya, Cool Japan strategy minister, said, “I hope a wide range of content our country has will become widely known to people around the world through the use of NFTs.”

NFT trading is expected to lead to further growth in Japan’s anime and other content industries.

JIJI Press