"Japan's First Token": How to Break Through Regional Restrictions

Hara, as the founder and CEO of Janction, has become an important figure in the Japanese cryptocurrency industry. Although he has accumulated rich experience in IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and auditing at KPMG, the real turning point was his encounter with blockchain. Reflecting on his career, Hara stated that although he explored multiple fields, participating in the Jasmy project truly made him feel a sense of "breakthrough."

As a professional in the traditional financial industry, he faced skepticism about blockchain technology. In 2016, Jasmy was originally a semiconductor supply company focused on the development of IoT devices. By the end of 2017, the company decided to pivot into the blockchain field. Hara recalled: "At that time, the management of Jasmy had a poor understanding of blockchain technology, and the purposes of the Token and governance structure were also very vague. I spent a lot of time researching ICOs and the cryptocurrency market, proposing the idea of making decentralized identity and data applications the core of the Token economy." This experience, filled with exploration and trial and error, has now become a valuable asset.

For Hara and Janction, "how to achieve innovation" and "how to cultivate talent" have always been key issues. Hara stated: "The development of IoT and blockchain has made me see the enormous potential of AI, which is why I decided to enter this field." The core business is building a Layer 2 platform that provides GPU computing resources and data storage solutions, offering technical support to academic institutions and startups to help develop large language models.

Hara explains: "AI and blockchain have a natural connection, especially in terms of data storage and computing power. By building GPU nodes and Layer 2 technology, we provide a powerful platform for researchers and developers to accelerate AI technology development." Currently, about 4000 nodes have been deployed on the platform, and there are plans to provide computing resources to academic institutions such as the University of Tokyo to support breakthroughs in the AI field.

Barriers in the Japanese Community: Dual Challenges of Culture and Regulation

"The Japanese blockchain market has always faced huge obstacles." Hara pointed out that despite Japan being one of the world's most advanced technology markets, there are still many issues with blockchain acceptance and the regulatory environment. In particular, the regulatory policies in Japan are relatively conservative in the DeFi sector. "One of the biggest issues when launching blockchain projects in Japan is regulatory uncertainty. DeFi projects can hardly take root in Japan, and even DEX is banned. This is not only a policy barrier but also a limitation of the entire society's understanding of blockchain technology."

This has also become a question that Hara repeatedly thinks about during the entrepreneurial process. When he joined Jasmy as CFO in 2018, although the original intention of the project was centered around innovations in the Internet of Things, he understood that in order to grow, it was necessary to transcend the limitations of the Japanese market and go global. "Although Jasmy successfully listed in Japan, our market expansion has always been aimed at overseas. This is not because we do not have confidence in the Japanese market."

Indeed, many blockchain projects from Korea and China are often affected by language and cultural barriers when entering the Japanese market, especially when there is a lack of localized teams, making communication and collaboration particularly difficult. "One of the biggest challenges when collaborating with large Japanese companies is the language and cultural differences. However, if there are team members who speak Japanese, these issues can be overcome. When working with companies like Sony, we must face and resolve these challenges."

However, Hara does not deny the potential limitations that may arise from over-reliance on the Japanese market. "When launching Jasmy, we first chose to start with overseas markets. This strategic decision means that we will not focus solely on Japan. We are clearly aware that if we only rely on the Japanese market, the project will face significant limitations. The Japanese market is large, but its openness is relatively small; internationalization is the future."

In addition to technology, talent is also key. The rapid development of the blockchain industry faces talent turnover and the handover of new and old forces. "In Japan's industry, it is very difficult to recruit blockchain engineers, and even harder to find engineers proficient in Layer 1 large-scale projects. Therefore, at Janction, we recruit excellent engineers from Argentina, Greece, and Spain, with the CTO coming from Australia, and the team including members from Europe and South America. This globalized technical team brings us a significant advantage."

Hara pointed out that while Japan's acceptance of cryptocurrencies is gradually increasing, most projects in the market are still limited to small-scale experimental applications, lacking sufficient innovation and breakthroughs. "We see many overseas projects, especially blockchain companies from South Korea and China, hoping to succeed in the Japanese market, but both language barriers and cultural differences pose significant challenges for these projects when entering Japan. Even if they provide global services and even support Japanese, it is still difficult to overcome these barriers."

Many overseas projects looking to enter small language communities often encounter obstacles in the Japanese market. The "encircled city" situation, where internal breakthroughs are needed while also integrating externally, has been a hot topic among founders. However, Hara also mentioned that overseas companies that can find local teams in Japan still have opportunities to collaborate with major Japanese companies, especially those like Sony and Panasonic. However, such collaborations often require more patience and time to overcome language and cultural differences. "In the early days of Jasmy, we chose to start from overseas markets," he said. "Through this strategy, we avoided the limitations brought by excessive reliance on the Japanese market."

Blockchain Idealism and Memes: Cultural Phenomenon or Market Bubble?

Talking about the blockchain industry, Hara delved into the current two forces - blockchain idealism and the meme coin phenomenon. For projects like Jasmy, Hara firmly believes in the potential of blockchain technology, emphasizing: "The true meaning of blockchain lies in decentralization, data autonomy, and transparency, rather than just trading or speculation." He believes that truly valuable blockchain projects should bring long-term benefits to users, rather than short-term speculation. "Jasmy's goal has always been to build a blockchain platform that can solve real-world problems, rather than just to attract attention."

However, with the booming cryptocurrency market, the meme coin phenomenon has gradually become a unique cultural phenomenon, causing confusion and unease among many industry professionals focused on technological innovation. "The meme coin cultural phenomenon has its significance," Hara admitted, "It allows ordinary investors and the public to have more understanding of blockchain, but that does not mean they are sustainable projects. For example, the recently popular 'TRUMP' is attractive because it can bring quick profits, but it lacks practical application scenarios. In the long run, such coins are difficult to sustain real value."

Hara has a complex view on meme coins. "From a market perspective, meme coins can quickly attract a large number of investors and even bring short-term wealth effects. However, in the long run, this kind of speculative behavior can have negative impacts on the entire industry. Personally, I do not invest in meme coins because they lack real technological innovation and do not align with my idealism about blockchain." He also pointed out that while meme coins themselves carry risks, they also serve a kind of social experiment, revealing the market's understanding and misunderstanding of blockchain technology. "This is also why many large companies, including Sony, have started to implement bans on such coins."

The success of these meme coins is undeniable, but this very fact has led to questioning of the speculative sentiment in the industry in recent years. Some believe it is merely driven by short-term speculative sentiment, lacking true technical support and intrinsic value; the bigger question is whether blockchain technology can still create a brand new technological ecosystem that surpasses its current achievements?

For Hara, blockchain idealism should not stop at pursuing short-term profit phenomena, but should focus on technologies and applications that can truly solve real-world problems. "Just like what we do at Jasmy, we are more concerned with how to leverage blockchain technology to bring innovation to the Internet of Things and data management, rather than simply relying on speculative market trends," he said.