Regional Web3: Primary Records and Criteria for Adoption

The phrase “regional Web3” covers a wide range of projects: tourism, NFTs, local currencies, DAOs. Introducing Web3 to a region does not, however, solve its problems. This article sets out the Web3-related activity that Miyako de IT, an IT engineer community in Kyoto, holds as a primary record, along with the items to check when deciding whether to adopt the technology in a regional project.

Conclusion: what we can publish is a record of contact, not a general argument

Articles explaining the broad possibilities of Web3 have already been published in large numbers. That is not where a community's distinctive value lies. It lies in the record of where local people, places, and organizations actually connected with engineers.

This article therefore takes the following stance.

• We do not conflate an award with commercialization
• We separate holding an event from a municipality adopting a technology
• We distinguish the roles of organizer, co-organizer, supporter, and speaker
• Where a primary record cannot confirm something, we write that it is unconfirmed

Primary record 1: the HACK+2023 Grand Prize (Cycle, a blood-donation support DApp)

In April 2023, at HACK+2023, a Symbol blockchain hackathon organized by NEMTUS, the NEM Technology Promotion Association, an NPO corporation, the blood-donation support DApp Cycle won the Grand Prize.

We record the roles separately.

Because the team was formed through meeting at Miyako de IT, we record it as a project born from participants meeting through the community. We also record the follow-on activity that the award produced.

The problem addressed was the decline in blood-donation rates, particularly among younger people. The team designed a mechanism on the Symbol blockchain for granting incentives for donating blood. How the development unfolded is described in the HACK+2023 participation report.

We have no publishable primary record of whether Cycle went into real operation or of its current status. We record the award as an award and make no statement here about commercialization.

Primary record 2: UNKNOWN QUEST, a self-run hackathon funded by the prize money

The prize money was reinvested in UNKNOWN QUEST, a hackathon run by the community itself. It was held at UNKNOWN KYOTO on July 29 and 30, 2023, on the theme of developing applications that use blockchain, with a pre-event party and contact on Discord beforehand built into the design.

It is a case in which prize money won at an external hackathon returned to a local community project. The operational design is described in the guide to running a community-led hackathon.

Primary record 3: continuing study sessions on Web3 and blockchain

Miyako de IT began working in the blockchain field in September 2022 and held the first session of “Let's take on blockchain application development” in Kyoto on December 3, 2022. The series continued to a tenth session in September 2023, stacking up hands-on programs including a session for building a decentralized social network for fun and a session held alongside a Symbol version of the game Werewolf. An intensive Symbol camp also took place in April 2023.

In November 2024, the community received the MVC award, Most Variable Community, in the general-community division at Tech Award in Hack Osaka 2024, held by the Urban Value Research Institute and the Osaka Industry Bureau, both public-interest incorporated foundations.

The activity does not stay inside Kyoto. A joint blockchain study session with Chijo IT took place in January 2024, and in May 2026 we held a report session at Taisho University Kyoto Academia, given by Yuka Ishida, who attended Protocol Camp, a bootcamp run with Korea-based Hashed (event report). Taisho University Kyoto Academia was the venue; the session was run by the community.

Distinguishing how roles are described

In projects with municipalities, universities, and local facilities, we write organizer, co-organizer, supporter, and speaker separately. Holding an event and that organization adopting a technology are two different things.

For example, Miyako de IT has held an event in the former assembly hall of the Former Kyoto Prefectural Office Main Building, an Important Cultural Property, but the theme was a lightning-talk event on AI agents, not Web3. Being allowed to use the venue and a public body adopting a given technology are entirely separate records (the record of work with the former Kyoto Prefectural assembly hall).

A list by relationship category is organized in the Kyoto IT Community White Paper 2026.

Items to check when deciding on technology for a regional project

When deciding whether to use blockchain in a regional project, we check the following. This is our operating guideline, not a universal answer.

1. Do several organizations need the same ledger?

2. Does holding a token connect to actual value in use?

3. Can older people and non-technical people use it?

4. Can access be recovered if a key is lost?

5. Will the operating body continue?

6. Can regulatory and tax requirements be met?

7. Would an existing membership database or payment system be enough?

The seventh question turns out to be answered “enough” in a fair number of projects. In that case, deciding not to use blockchain is reasonable. We recommend choosing from the region's requirements rather than starting from the technology.

What this article does not cover

For transparency, we state what we have not confirmed.

• Whether Cycle went into real operation, and its current status
• Any case in which a Miyako de IT project led to Web3 adoption as municipal policy (no primary record applies)
• General adoption effects of local currencies, NFT tourism, and the like (we have not measured them in this community)

We will add these once a primary record can be confirmed.

Summary

• What can be published about “regional Web3” is a record of contact, not a general argument
• We do not conflate an award with commercialization, and we write roles separately
• Technology adoption is judged from the region's requirements. Where existing mechanisms suffice, we do not use it

Places to get hands-on with Web3 and blockchain themes are listed on the event list. Newcomers may also want to read the first-time guidance.

Related articles

• The Record of the HACK+2023 Grand Prize
• A Guide to Running a Community-Led Hackathon
• Report Session on Korea-based Hashed's Protocol Camp
• How IT Engineers Can Collaborate with Local Governments