Chisato ShizumeKanagawa is the only prefecture in Japan chosen for “SDGs Future City” and “Local Government SDGs Model Project”. To achieve the sustainability goals, Kamakura, a major city in Kanagawa, has launched “SDGs tsunagari point system” (“tsunagari” means connection or partnership) to attract citizens to take part in community activities. The system will introduce a community currency called “Machi no Coin” (literally “the town’s coin”), planned and developed by KAYAC Inc., a company based in Kamakura.
Kamakura is a well-known city that attracts a great number of both inbound and domestic tourists. However, the city faces many issues many other cities in Japan confront today: residents’ aging problem and depopulation. Many people who live in Kamakura have had special attachment to their city, keeping the city lively and sustainable up to this day. But now the city is concerned it may not be able to maintain the community activities in the near future due to decreasing number of youths and citizens. Thus, Kamakura has decided to adopt a community currency system to attract more people to participate in community activities.
But what is a local currency? What makes it different from national currencies such as US dollars or Japanese Yen? A national currency can be spent throughout a nation and are exchangeable to other currencies. People earn and spend national currency without facing any boundaries especially when used within the region. Whereas community currency naturally limits its flow in a specific place or community, encouraging people to shop within the boundary: often at participating locally owned businesses. Therefore, community currency does not flow out of the community, hence it revitalizes the economy and creates a resilient community. This circulation is what makes community currency different from national currency.
The idea of this community currency is adopted in the “Machi no Coin” project. Its purpose is to keep the flow within the community. However, Machi no Coin’s principle purpose is not only to circulate the currency, but to revitalize the region. Therefore, the coins are rewarded in exchange to taking part in community activities either directly or indirectly. Also, gamification is introduced in this system to make it entertaining: extra points are rewarded for participating repeatedly. People can gain extra points for inviting non-residents to the community’s activity too! These benefits will encourage more people to be engaged in the community
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KAYAC will release an app so people can gain and spend “Machi no Coin” using their smartphones. This scheme is not only convenient for users. It requires very little cost for installation so the initial investment can be kept small, which could motivate business owners to join this project. The demonstration experiment will start in November. If it is successful, many more cities all over Japan are sure to follow for the purpose of revitalizing their own communities.
