あるやうむ
Tokyo, JP · 12 known investors
A Japanese regional development company that builds NFT platforms and digital systems for local governments and municipalities to support local economies. The company combines blockchain technology with traditional funding mechanisms like hometown tax donations and creates DAOs to strengthen rural communities and counter Tokyo-centric economic concentration.
Also known as alyawmu · Aruyaumu · 株式会社あるやうむ
Founders & leadership
Investors · 12
Also in the syndicate · 9
Company profile
researched Aug 2026株式会社あるやうむ (Alyawmu) is a Japanese company that supplies NFT- and DAO-based solutions to local governments and regional communities. Its stated mission is "to enrich hometowns with creators," and its vision is to reduce disparities between regions by making advanced technology equally available nationwide. The company name is Arabic for "today." Its declared business lines are regional-revitalization NFT issuance, NFT system development consulting, and the 地域おこし協力隊DAO (Community-Reactivating Cooperator Squad DAO) business.
Current services listed on the company site are: furusato nozei (hometown tax) combined with creators, including an "Illustrator Furusato Nozei" program where donors can request original illustrations from participating illustrators and receive them as NFTs; furusato nozei combined with whisky, including a limited whisky NFT program; the 地域おこし協力隊DAO, positioned as a channel through which fans living outside a region can engage with it and which supports urban-to-rural relocation while forming digital communities; and a high-value-added NFT sales platform. In November 2025 the company started TOKKEN (トッケン), described as a real-world-asset platform for municipalities that sells long-term special rights and experiences derived from local resources, launched with 舟橋村 (Funahashi), 琴平町 (Kotohira) and むかわ町 (Mukawa). The company also operates a 地方創生Web3研究所 (regional revitalization Web3 laboratory) and a Voicy audio channel.
Founding story
The company began in August 2020 as a character-goods manufacturing and sales business under the brand "あるやうむ," and was incorporated as 株式会社あるやうむ on 18 November 2020, initially selling model-railway structures and character goods. Development of a furusato nozei × NFT issuance platform started in November 2021 [2][4]. CEO Hiroaki Hatanaka describes growing up in Shibuya, Tokyo, moving to Otsu, Shiga for university and then relocating to Sapporo; he attributes an information and motivation gap between Tokyo and the regions to a structure in which Tokyo firms supply IT tools to regional companies and extract the usage fees, and founded the company to counter that concentration from a Sapporo base [2].
Business model
The company sells NFT and DAO solutions into the public sector: regional-revitalization NFT issuance, NFT system development consulting, and the 地域おこし協力隊DAO programme, delivered to municipalities and regions [7]. It also runs its own portal sites, including the furusato nozei NFT donation portal furu.alyawmu.com and, from November 2025, the TOKKEN platform through which municipalities sell special rights and experiences [0][4].
Sources describe consulting, system development and NFT issuance work for municipalities plus operation of hometown-tax and rights/experience sales platforms; specific pricing or revenue figures are not stated in the sources.
Traction
The 地域おこし協力隊DAO project moved from concept to implementation in six municipalities within half a year in 2024, with a stated target of 20–30 municipalities in 2025; the Illustrator Furusato Nozei programme with Erimo Town, Hokkaido, launched 12 July 2024, has more than 1,000 participating illustrators, and more than 120 relocation interviews had been conducted under the DAO programme. Municipal engagements named in the sources include Kitahiroshima City, Yoichi Town, Erimo Town, Tottori City, Funahashi Village, Shirahama Town (Wakayama), Mashike Town, Hikone City, Takikawa City, Kotohira Town and Mukawa Town [0][2][4][6].
Latest developments
In November 2025 the company launched TOKKEN, described as the first RWA platform for municipalities, enabling sales of long-term special rights and experiences based on local resources, starting 17 November 2025 with Funahashi Village, Kotohira Town and Mukawa Town. It also announced a limited run of five "in-train melody creation" experiences for Toyama Chihō Railway's Ecchū-Funahashi Station, a No.1 adoption record for comprehensive support in the 地域おこし協力隊 business, and recruitment of 2025 relocation DAO managers (announced 5 April 2025). Advisor Shinobu Shiikawa, a former Director-General of the Local Public Finance Bureau who created the 地域おこし協力隊 scheme in 2009, joined in 2025 [0][2].
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Described in a partner's release as a pioneer in providing the technology for NFT hometown-tax reward items and as a J-Startup HOKKAIDO company certified by bodies including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry [7]. The company states it has achieved the top adoption record (No.1) for comprehensive support in the 地域おこし協力隊 business [0].
The company combines Web3 technology with established public funding mechanisms (hometown tax donations, the national 地域おこし協力隊 relocation scheme) and positions itself around a "sanpo-yoshi" principle of benefiting municipalities, donors/buyers and creators alike. It is based in Sapporo rather than Tokyo and preferentially hires fully remote staff from regions outside the capital area in order to seed startup culture there [2][7].
Technology
The company applies blockchain-based NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) to public-sector use cases, including NFT reward items for hometown tax donations, tourism NFTs, digital community formation for relocation programmes, and tokenized rights and experiences for municipalities under the TOKKEN real-world-asset platform. It has also worked on introducing JPYC yen-stablecoin payment on its furusato nozei NFT portal and on a joint proposal to municipalities for paying residence tax in JPYC [0][2][4][6][7].
Go-to-market
Direct sales to municipalities by an in-house team (several staff profiles list 自治体営業, municipal sales, and production management), supported by public relations including PR TIMES press releases and a Voicy audio channel, partnerships with corporates such as JPYC and Fusion, and reference deployments with individual towns that are then expanded to further municipalities [0][2][4][6][7].
Japanese local governments and regions—municipalities running hometown tax programmes, tourism promotion and 地域おこし協力隊 relocation schemes—together with donors/NFT purchasers and cooperating creators, businesses and IP holders [0][2][7].
Geography
Headquarters at Kita 38-jo Nishi 6-chome, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido; staff work fully remotely from locations including Sapporo, Fujisawa (Kanagawa), Tatebayashi (Gunma), Oyama (Shizuoka), Fukui and Tokyo. Projects span municipalities in Hokkaido, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Shiga and Kagawa prefectures [2][4][7].
History
Milestones on the company's own history page: character-goods business launched August 2020; incorporation November 2020; start of furusato nozei × NFT platform development November 2021; ¥21 million raised in December 2021 from Skyland Ventures, Takahiro Hayashi and Takashi Sato; tourism NFT work with Kitahiroshima City from January 2022; furusato nozei NFT with Yoichi Town from May 2022; a pre-Series A round in February 2023 from Skyland Ventures, Sparkle and KDDI; 地域おこし協力隊DAO with Yoichi Town from April 2024; Illustrator Furusato Nozei with Erimo Town from July 2024; limited whisky NFT furusato nozei with Yoichi Town from November 2024; and the TOKKEN launch with Funahashi, Kotohira and Mukawa in November 2025 [2]. A capital and business alliance with JPYC, issuer of the yen stablecoin JPYC, was announced on 25 October 2023 [4][6].
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 8
launches, deals, and filingsTOKKEN, described as the first real-world-asset platform for local governments, began on 17 November 2025, selling long-term special rights and experiences derived from local resources, with Funahashi Village, Kotohira Town and Mukawa Town.
Shinobu Shiikawa, a former official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications who served as the first Director-General for Regional Vitalization (2008), created the 地域おこし協力隊 scheme in 2009 and retired in 2012 as Director-General of the Local Public Finance Bureau, joined as an advisor after encountering the company's 地域おこし協力隊DAO initiative.
Sale of a limited five units of an experience in which a melody created by the purchaser is played on an actual train at Ecchū-Funahashi Station on the Toyama Chihō Railway.
The company raised an additional ¥73.5 million in a pre-Series A extension, consisting of ¥44 million in loans from Kitami Shinkin Bank, Hokkaido Shinkin Bank, Hokkaido Bank, Hokuriku Bank and Japan Finance Corporation, plus equity investment from United, Fusion, Startup Connect and individual investors. Both the loans and the equity were unsecured and without a personal guarantee from the representative. Combined with the May 2024 financing, the round totalled ¥190.5 million.
Fusion, a Sapporo Securities Exchange-listed marketing support company, announced capital participation in Alyawmu, citing intended synergies between its data analytics, consulting and creative capabilities and Alyawmu's administrative channels and NFT consulting.
A hometown tax reward programme allowing donors to order illustrations from their preferred illustrator, with local landmarks and specialties as the design basis; the original artwork is delivered to the donor as an NFT.
A financing completed in May 2024 which, together with the November 2024 extension of ¥73.5 million, brought the pre-Series A round to ¥190.5 million in total.
Alliance with JPYC, issuer of the Japanese yen stablecoin JPYC, to introduce JPYC payment on the furusato nozei NFT portal and to jointly propose to municipalities the payment of residence tax in JPYC.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- あるやうむalyawmu.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does あるやうむ do?
- Sapporo-based startup providing NFT and DAO solutions to Japanese municipalities, centered on hometown tax (furusato nozei) and regional revitalization.
- Who are あるやうむ's investors?
- あるやうむ's investors include DG Incubation, Global Brain, Skyland Ventures.
- Where is あるやうむ headquartered?
- あるやうむ is headquartered in Tokyo, JP.