But as China recently raced ahead in East Asia bitcoin bets, some Japanese technology experts instead pinned their hopes of finding innovative uses for blockchain technology.
Japan's economy has long been stagnant, but only a fool can erase its great technological prowess. Indeed, many Japanese have survived the breakthrough that transformed the economy from the IT pioneers in the country. And in blockchain, somebody thinks they found it.
Government encouragement and automatic trends
Much of the spirit of blockchain has recently been driven by the central government itself. In March of this year, the government announced it has launched a blockchain-based platform trial to process the tender. The results will be revealed when the trial ends in the spring of next year.
"In a dime, worth a pound" seems to be the government's motto when it comes to blockchain. Next year, will unveil an ambitious roadmap to incorporate blockchain technology in e-government. The end goal, it will appear, is to move all government-citizen interactions to the blockchain platform.
The news outlet said the government will move a step further, wanting to manage power plants and other public infrastructure by using a blocked-out solution.
Perhaps even more prominently, Japanese auto giants now want to integrate blockchain with products they hope will help propel them back to the top of the world car market: a driverless vehicle.
CFO Toyota Research Institute Chris Ballinger recently stated, "Blockchains and distributed ledgers enable the unification of data from vehicle owners, fleet managers and manufacturers [...] bringing the benefits of safety, efficiency, and driving ease of autonomous drive technology."
In fact, Toyota (already a member of the Ethereal Enterprise Alliance) has been working with a number of block experts for its latest project. Companies from distant places like Germany, the United States and Israel are involved. Toyota hopes that combining blockchain technology early in the game of autonomous vehicles will let it earn even further dividends.
Financial sector
Conglomerate Rival conglomerate also began to investigate blockchain landscape.
Last year Mitsubishi UFJ, the auto company's finance agency, released a comprehensive blockchain mission statement. The company then continued trials of an extensive blockchain-tested system in Singapore, along with Hitachi. Both companies believe they will be able to launch domestic payment platforms at some point next year.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi UFJ's biggest competitor, Mizuho Financial Group, has announced that it will also enter the competition for blocking, with IBM's trading platform built now on the pipeline.
Other Japanese financial groups followed suit. In the spring, a large multi-bank consortium (also including Mitsubishi UFJ) began looking at various blockchain based money transfer platforms. This includes a Ripple-designed system that some claim can handle 200 times more data per second than the standard Bitcoin blockchain platform. The consortium looks forward to finding ways to provide low cost, low cost virtual international transfers using blockchain technology.
Emi Yoshikawa, director of Ripple's joint venture, was quoted by CNBC as saying, "The aim of the consortium is to make efficient domestic and cross-border payments by utilizing the latest distributed ledger technology."
Finally, in June, AEOM Financial Services announced trials for Japan's first major blockchain platform for international users. The trial will use the Fabric Hyperledger framework from the Linux Foundation. AIA Masaaki Mangetsu said the company will use the system to improve its financial services offering, in addition to "offering new services to underserved customers in Asian countries."
More applications
Although blockchain fevers are more depressed outside the sphere of finance and the Japanese government, there are signs that this may soon change.
The telecom giant NTT has allowed its IT service subsidiary NTT Data to work with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance for an ambitious blockade-based delivery documentation platform. It can handle invoices, insurance certificates and more. Testing is complete, and NTT Data has labeled its trials "successful."
Insurers Sompo Holdings, meanwhile, last year began to pioneer a blockchain-powered risk transfer product that will provide coverage for natural disasters, such as earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions. The company has added that it hopes to implement blockchain technology to the entire range of new insurance packages.
Future developments
Skeptics will note that some of Japan's biggest industrial players - such as Honda and Nissan - still have to be blocked. Behind some cursory white paper and no commit, only a few early moves from many such companies. If they do not work behind the scenes, maybe the blockchain technology has not yet appeared on their radar, or they think their fish is bigger to fry.
However, the fact remains that many of the largest conglomerates in Japan are now fully committed to blocking the pilot scheme. In other cases, the conglomerate has allowed their financial services or IT subsidiaries to conduct a well-funded preliminary study. If this turns out to be positive, the adoption of a group-wide blockchain can fit into the card.
But as in the future - as happened in neighboring South Korea - it seems the government and the banking sector must continue to ignite the momentum of Japan's growing growth.