Metaverse Japan, an organization dedicated to empowering metaverse technology in Japan, held its first conference, Metaverse Japan Summit 2022 on 14 July at Shibuya Stream Hall. The conference brought together artists, developers, and Web3 experts from various industries to celebrate and discuss the development of virtual worlds.  

Metaverse is a rapidly-growing industry all around the world. Individuals and companies are investing huge amounts of money in the development of the virtual space and integrating with almost every industry, such as art, music, entertainment, real estate, etc. 

Japan ranks among the top countries that have a wider acceptance and mass adoption of new technologies. The metaverse is also slowly becoming involved in Japan as more and more artists and other personalities adopt this technology. 

Metaverse Japan is an organization that works on introducing innovations within the metaverses around the world. The org held its first Metaverse Japan Summit 2022 to highlight the achievements of Japan in Web3 and metaverse. 

About Metaverse Japan Summit 2022 

The conference held 19 sessions at two venues, hosted by advisors, directors, and Metaverse/ Web3 experts in Japan. Each session introduced a new aspect of digital innovation and technology within the metaverse.

The event was held online as well so that people from all over the world could be part of the conference. According to the team, about 1,100 people attended the conferences, IRL and online. 

The event began with Shinko Nagata and Kunimi Mabuchi, the representative directors of Metaverse Japan who introduced the organization and explained its purpose of founding it. Later, all the sessions were held one by one on stage. 

How Japanese artists are contributing to the Metaverse?

An interesting session, reported by Forbes Japan, took place at the conference regarding artists in the metaverse. 

“Artist Empowerment Created by Web3 Metaverse” was hosted by Mr. Shinko Nagata, Secretary General of Shibuya Mirai Design, attended by Ms. Emika Sawa from Metaverse Japan, Mr. Kiyoyuki Amano from Kayac Akiba Studio,  and VR Artist Mr. Aimi Sekiguchi. 

They discussed how they were introduced to the virtual worlds that eventually influenced their involvement in the metaverse. Ms. Sawa talked about her journey as a makeup artist in the creative industry. She got involved with new types of art styles such as e-sports and other social games.

“From that point on, from the end of 2017, I started to think about what I could do in real space, such as shooting and shooting images, virtually,” she said. 

Continuing the conversation, Sekiguchi shared he started with art production in VR space and live paintings, and later he adopted NFTs to sell the art. Similarly, Amano as a film director noticed that immersive technology was slowly growing in his earlier days and adopted it in his works as well.

Overall, the common agreement between the artists was that metaverse is the perfect platform to explore creativity and innovation. Mr. Sekiguchi added that with metaverse, artists will have more freedom and individuality with their work than in the traditional industry. 

Future of metaverse in Japan

Other sessions were held to discuss the future of the internet, metaverse, and Web3 around the world and also in Japan. The experts gathered to share their perspectives on the possibilities of Metaverse and blockchain technology within the country. 

The “Entertainment Expanding Metaverse” session discussed how Japan could win the world in the race of metaverse with its already developed entertainment industry. Additionally, the directors from well-established companies debated over how Japan can build its own economy surrounding the Web3 world.

To conclude, the Japanese experts are ready to lead the country into the future of internet, i.e., metaverse and Web3.