Yamakoshi area, Nagaoka City,
Niigata Prefecture

Neo Yamakoshi Village Project

Background and Reasons for this Project

seek new ways to manage local communities byliberating them. It is a big challenge to realise aunique “autonomy zone” by residents in theYamakoshi area and people who empathise with theidentity of Yamakoshi.

Aims of this Project
By acknowledging people who can empathise with
the identity of Yamakoshi as the main subjects of the
Evening landscapearea, these empathisers are going to seek andThe Yamakoshi area (former Yamakoshi Village)

establish a way to co-create local autonomy together

suffered devastating damage due to the Chuetsu

with local residents.

earthquake approximately 20 years ago. In theProject Outline

following year, 2005, the village’s name and its local
government vanished due to a large-scale municipal
merger. These two events gave momentum toresident-centred community development, whereas
the number of residents which was approximately
2,200 at the time of the earthquake plummeted toabout 800. Due to the decline in population, the only
nursery school in the area was closed, andelementary and junior high schools have employed amixed age class system. Clinics have reduced theirfunctions and public transport has been withdrawn
from the area. Each of the 14 community clusters has

Nishikigoi (coloured carp)

been losing its function to maintain itself and there

Nishikigoi NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) (tokens also

are many problems such as the neglect of mountains

serve as e-resident cards of the Yamakoshi area), theand the debilitation of mutual aid systems.

motifs of which are coloured carps originated in

To overcome this situation, we have abandoned
theideaof“resident-centred

Yamakoshi, are issued to gather people, funds andcommunity

wisdom from all over the world, enabling thedevelopment” and have begun a new challenge toformation of the “Yamakoshi DAO” (Decentralised1

Autonomous Organisation) (the so-called NeoFeatures and Innovations

Yamakoshi Village), a combination of reality and● Nishikigoi NFTs which serve as digital art and e-

virtual space — the reality where natural resources

resident cards are being issued. The motif of theand the unique culture of Yamakoshi such as

NFT are coloured carps which are the identity ofcoloured

Yamakoshi.

carpsandbullfighting

havebeen

maintained; and the virtual space infinitively-expanding beyond physical restrictions.

NFTs can be purchased from all over Japan andfrom overseas to become a digital villager (eresident)/NFT holder.

-Proceeds of the NFTs were initially managed by
TART K.K., and are currently managed by
Crypto Village, Co., Ltd. So far, 3ETH(Ethereum) has been allotted to implement a
regional development plan by digital villagers.

Results of the Project● The impact of 1,600 digital villagers:-called “return to their home village”;

BullfightingThis versatile and advanced approach has helped

approximately 400 digital villagers returned toto increase the number of people involved in thisproject, and there is even a phenomenon where

Visits to Yamakoshi by digital villagers (the so-their home village).
-

Projects carried out both in real and digital: inbuyers of Nishikigoi NFTs (so-called e-residents) visit

some projects digital villagers have contributed

the area to “return to their home village”. Since theto the real local village byutilising their fields ofissuance of Nishikigoi NFTs in December 2021, moreexpertise.

than 1,600 people have registered as digital villager-Accepting each other’s culture, we are going to(e-residents), which enables us to strive for a newnurture “our” new culture and challenge

way of community development to maintain the area.

towards a new local community.

Issues, Problems and Responses● In Japan, rules and regulations regarding DAOs
(Decentralised Autonomous Organisations) have notbeen established yet.
-To utilise the potential of a combination of a
local area and advanced technology, rules

Okazz’s work "Coloured Carp"

NPOs to make use of the advantages of DAOs
need to be formulated for the following
matters: opening bankaccounts/cryptocurrency exchange accounts,
year-end mark-to-market taxation, reforming
unincorporated associations to partnerships,
securing anonymity, setting a representative,

Generative patterns NISHIKIGOI

utilising stablecoins, setting definition of new

-autonomy organisation, specifying approved

maintaining it; “doing” means the actions carried out

local associations, non-profit DAOs andby people who are connected by empathy regardlessdonations.

of actually living in the area. We will strive to realise

Yamakoshi has been offering explanations andgoverning our own village through this “being” andproposals to ministries and government“doing”.

offices, and at the Liberal Democratic Party
DAO rule-making hackathon regarding theURL

subjects mentioned above.

https://nishikigoinft.com/

Contact
Local Promotion and Civic Life Division, Nagaoka CityYamakoshi Branch OfficeE-mail: yamakoshi1023@gmail.com

Evening landscapeFuture Developments (expected effects,project vision, and issues)
Japan is in a phase of demographic shrinkage, andevery region has issues regarding the decline inbirthrate and increase in aged population. We thinkthat local autonomy beyond the borders ofadministrative districts is necessary.
While the population was increasing, local
communities relied on self-help and public help,
whereas the current situation in Japan does notallow the reliance on self-help and public help, butmutual help. However, in this situation, we need tochange the idea of mutual help. Instead of residents
in the area taking on a role in their local community,
it is important to work out how we can encourage
people who can empathise with the identity of thearea to take on a role of mutual help.
We aim to realise a multi-layered local community
through DAO under the idea of “being” and “doing”.
“Being” means living in the area and therefore