Toda City uses NFTs in tourism promotion program

Toda City, located in the southeastern Japanese prefecture of Saitama, is using NFTs to promote its tourist attractions and offer guidance to visitors in a trial program launched in collaboration with ITOCHU Techno-Solutions.

The project will convert “Todami-chan,” the mascot for the city’s Todagahara nature restoration area, into 3D and processed into NFTs, and offered as a gift in return for a hometown tax payment.

A beta version of the AR application “CLoVAR,” newly released by ITOCHU Techno-Solutions, will be used in the pilot program. It is a service that allows visitors to take photos with the 3D Todami-chan in an AR environment.

A limited-edition of Todami-chan NFT, which can be used with CLoVAR, and a set of equipment rental tickets for the barbecue garden at Saiko and Doman Green Park will be offered as returns for Furusato tax payment. Those who contribute 40,000 yen or more to the tax will have a chance to claim the limited-quantity rewards from December. 

The CLoVAR application will also allow visitors to turn on a GPS function in Saiko and Doman Green Parks to take a picture of Todami-chan with a kingfisher, Toda’s city bird, on its head. The app can be used even without making a hometown tax donation.