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The market size of blockchain-utilized services in Japan was estimated at about **** billion Japanese yen in fiscal year 2021. It was forecast to reach a value of almost  billion yen by fiscal year 2025, thus effectively multiplying within the time span of a few years.

The current market situation

Blockchain technology is supposed to make data resistant to modification, which has sparked considerable interest in many industries because of its potential to improve operations and to innovate business models. The market in Japan started to take up pace after an initial trial-and-error phase in which leading companies tested out possible applications. It is expected that the three areas of traceability, authentication, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will play a major role in the growth of the market. Blockchain technology can be used for various purposes, such as supply chain tracking or digital documents. As the market evolves, the utilization is expected to spread from larger to middle-sized companies as well as to local governments.

Blockchain technology and the Japanese video game industry

One possible area of application for blockchain technology is the video game industry. Japan is one of the largest video game markets worldwide, and home to many influential developers and publishers. Due to the ubiquity of smartphones, mobile gaming is more widespread than console gaming, and, consequently, mobile games also constitute a much larger market. Japan’s blockchain gaming industry is said to have started in 2018, with titles such as "Crypt-Oink" and "My Crypto Heroes" being released during this year. The mobile racing game "Crypt-Oink," which makes use of the cryptocurrency Ether, is regarded as Japan’s first blockchain game. More recently, an increasing number of major companies, such as Bandai Namco and Square Enix, also announced plans to engage in blockchain-related endeavors.