NFT Issuance Case Studies Compared in Depth (Japan, Overseas, Services, Prices, Chains and More)

With the arrival of NFTs, it has become possible to give one-of-a-kind value to digital works that were previously hard to assign value to, and all kinds of digital content are being turned into NFTs.

Here we pick out and introduce NFTs issued in Japan and overseas that made headlines or sold for large amounts. The table below summarizes NFTs issued by Japanese creators, and we have also summarized cases issued by non-Japanese creators, so please read to the end.

Japanese services

*GMO Adam's NFT for obtaining Ryuichi Sakamoto's handwritten score of "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" is excluded because its value lies in the handwritten score itself
*Tetsuya Komuro's NFT is also excluded because, separately from the NFT, the first 10 buyers receive a synthesizer recording newly played by Komuro

Overseas services

NFT issuance cases on Japanese services

Tsubasa Yozawa's tweet NFT (¥10.41 million)

A tweet NFT of entrepreneur Tsubasa Yozawa's post announcing the birth of his second child was sold at auction, with a winning bid of about ¥10.41 million.

Mr. Yozawa's tweet NFT was issued as the first project of HEXA, a Japanese service that turns posts into NFTs.

The auction had a minimum winning bid of 0.03 ETH (about ¥7,730) and ran for a limited 5 days (120 hours), from 2021/06/15 (Tue) to 06/19 (Sat). Just about 2 hours after it opened, the price reached about ¥2 million (7.1 ETH), and on the second day it rose sharply to about ¥6.47 million (24 ETH). Toward the final day, many new bidders placed bids, and in the end Idainaru Bana-oji won the auction for about ¥10.41 million (42 ETH).

In this auction, the entire winning bid minus fees was distributed as a giveaway campaign to 7 followers carefully selected by Mr. Yozawa.

On HEXA, anyone can issue and sell a tweet NFT in just 30 seconds, and many influencers have started selling them.

HEXA LAND Genesis NFT ad-space NFT (¥6 million)

HEXA LAND NFTs are ad-space NFTs that will allow holders to place ads on the HEXA platform in the future. NFT holders not only own a slot for placing ads in the future but can also benefit from the growth of the HEXA service. It is a Web3 initiative aiming for a world where the whole community grows the HEXA service together and the whole community shares in the rewards.

Perfume's NFT artwork (¥3.25 million)

The first NFT artwork by the three-member technopop group Perfume was sold by auction and won for about ¥3.25 million. The NFT commemorates Perfume's 20th anniversary since forming and 15th anniversary since their major-label debut.

The work, titled "Imaginary Museum “Time Warp”," was presented at the online festival " “P.O.P” Festival (Perfume Online Present Festival) " held on September 21, 2020, the anniversary of their debut. Using data from "Perfume Imaginary Museum “Time Warp”," which is streaming on Netflix, the three members' iconic choreography poses were turned into a 3D artwork.

The work was listed on NFT Experiment, Rhizomatiks' own NFT marketplace, which uses MATIC (Polygon), a blockchain with low issuance costs, although it has a short history and security concerns have been pointed out.

Naming rights NFT for the canoe center in Nishikawa Town, Yamagata Prefecture (¥1.5 million)

The naming rights to a newly built canoe center were sold at auction as an NFT and won for ¥1.5 million. A QR code printed on the sign to be installed links to the NFT page, so the owner can be identified even if the NFT is resold or transferred.

Park naming rights NFT of Nishikawa Town, Yamagata Prefecture (¥1.3 million)

Many municipalities sell naming rights to parks, pedestrian bridges and streets, but naming rights in lesser-known or sparsely populated areas often receive no bids at all. Against this backdrop, the naming rights to a park in a town of about 5,000 people, offered as an NFT, drew 47 bids and sold for ¥1.3 million. The naming rights NFT drew in many individuals and companies and sparked a lot of excitement.

YouTube video by YouTuber Hikaru (¥1.3 million)

YouTuber Hikaru's video "No winning tickets? Fully exposing the wrongdoing behind a festival lottery from start to finish, ready to get banned" was listed as a headline item to mark the launch of GMO Adam's NFT marketplace. The auction ran from 2021/8/30 to 2021/10/10 and closed with a winning bid of ¥1,301,000.

At the same time, an NFT turning all the thumbnails of Hikaru's channel into art was also won for ¥771,000.

HEXA LAND Genesis NFT ad-space NFT (¥710,000)

HEXA LAND NFTs are ad-space NFTs that will allow holders to place ads on the HEXA platform in the future. NFT holders not only own a slot for placing ads in the future but can also benefit from the growth of the HEXA service. It is a Web3 initiative aiming for a world where the whole community grows the HEXA service together and the whole community shares in the rewards.

In the HEXA LAND NFT first sale, all 16 LAND NFTs sold on a first-come, first-served basis sold out within 12 minutes of opening, and HEXA LAND Genesis, sold by auction, was won for ¥711,000.

Masato Morishige's tweet NFT (¥220,000)

To try a new way of interacting with supporters, professional soccer player Masato Morishige turned his post about his resolutions for 2022 into an NFT. The NFT was sold by auction on HEXA starting at 11:11 on January 11, 2022. It includes holder-only content that only the holder can view: videos of his goals for the team, his personal goals, a New Year's greeting and a thank-you to the winning bidder. Morishige also announced that he would donate all the proceeds from the sale.

Because this auction required no crypto or wallet and accepted credit card payments in Japanese yen, it was won by an individual, FC Tokyo supporter Pojiko. She was also the person who placed the very first bid, of ¥1,111. During the auction, Masato Morishige replied directly to supporters, creating an atmosphere as lively as a live event.

Support NFT of House of Representatives member Yasushi Adachi (¥140,000)

Team card NFT by artist nanao (¥131,000)

NFT of Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People (¥100,000)

Illustration NFT by manga artist Kamui Fujiwara (¥100,000)

TEPCO power asset NFT (¥100,000)

"Power asset" NFTs using NFT technology were sold with the aim of further developing the power industry and offering new value. A total of 290 NFTs across 10 types of transmission towers and 10 types of utility poles were sold for a limited time. Buyers who purchased at least one of each rank (S, A, B and C) could also receive a "Premium Power Asset NFT."

Music NFT by artist Reina Takeda (¥77,000)

Comedy sketch video NFT by comedians Yodaredori (¥32,000)

By buying NFTs early to show support, you can profit by reselling them if the comedy act later becomes popular and the NFT's value rises. When resold, a royalty also goes back to the comedians. It is a new initiative toward a world where issuing NFTs helps uncover funny acts and provides income for comedians, and where supporters also benefit when those acts become popular.

Fudanjuku drawing and message set (¥20,000)

Okinawa Electric Power transmission tower card NFT (¥10,000)

To spark interest in the power transmission and distribution facilities that ensure a stable electricity supply, a pilot project was carried out covering the creation and sale of transmission tower cards using NFT technology. Within Okinawa Electric Power Company's service area, there are about 1,200 transmission towers of different heights and shapes, designed with the terrain and natural environment in mind, to deliver stable power to customers. Okinawa Electric Power Company selected distinctive transmission towers from among them and is creating NFT tower cards set against backdrops such as Okinawa's beautiful scenery, with NFT technology proving each one is unique and enhancing their rarity.

SKE48 NFT trading cards "Ikinari Toreca"

"Ikinari NFT Toreca," the first series of NFT trading cards from SKE48, a Japanese female idol group based in Nagoya, went on sale in October 2020 on NFT Toreca, a digital trading card platform run by coinbook Co., Ltd.

The advance Special packs, limited to 100 packs, sold out. "Ikinari NFT Toreca" was later followed by a second and third series, but these seem to have had ample stock and did not sell out.

Each NFT Toreca card contains its own unique data such as images, audio and video, and you find out what's inside after buying.

Since June 2021, SKE48's NFT trading cards have also been available on Coincheck NFT (beta), the NFT marketplace run by Coincheck.

Replica Otaku Coin NFT

Replica Otaku Coin is an NFT with a replica design based on the Otaku Coin logo. It comes in 10,000 color variations, each with a serial number, so there is only one NFT in the world for each color.

The first series went on sale on May 25, 2021 and the second on June 25, each limited to 100, and both sold out. A third series has also been announced.

Replica Otaku Coin is being sold as "a pilot sale of low-priced NFTs that anyone can easily buy." Each Replica Otaku Coin costs ¥990 (tax included), and payment methods include credit card and PayPal, with convenience store payment also available from the third series.

SUSHI TOP SHOT NFT

SUSHI TOP SHOT is a series of NFT trading cards featuring videos of sushi chefs' skills, such as their knife work. In the first series, released on May 22, a total of 40 cards — 8 each of 5 types such as tuna and kohada (gizzard shad) — sold out within an hour of going on sale. The price was set at about ¥500 (0.02 ETH) per card so that people could easily buy and trade them.

The second series, with 7 types including anago (conger eel) and torigai (Japanese cockle), is on sale on nanakusa, a Japanese NFT marketplace.

The name SUSHI TOP SHOT comes from NBA Top Shot, the NFT trading cards of the US NBA.

Fist of the North Star "Otoko no Shinizama" (A Man's Death) series: Nanto Roku Seiken box NFT

These NFTs capture famous scenes from the manga Fist of the North Star and were sold as a limited run of 418 boxes at ¥4,910 (tax included) each. There were 7 types each of "Shin, Man of the Martyr Star (Nanto Lone Eagle Fist)," "Rei, Man of the Star of Justice (Nanto Water Bird Fist)," "Yuda, Man of the Demon Star," "Shu, Man of the Star of Benevolence," and "Souther, Man of the General Star (Nanto Phoenix Fist)," plus 3 types of "Nanto's Last General: Yuria, Tou" — 38 types in total, with 77 copies of each (serial-numbered), for 2926 items overall. These were grouped 7 to a "box," and 418 sets were sold in total.

Examples of NFTs sold together with physical items (Japan)

NFT granting the right to receive Ryuichi Sakamoto's handwritten score (first winning bidder only)

This is the "NFT granting the right to receive Ryuichi Sakamoto's handwritten score of 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' up to bar 26." Only the first winning bidder in the NFT auction receives, later by mail, the handwritten score of "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" that Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote for the project. The first winning bidder is contacted by email from "Adam byGMO" to arrange this. The terms state: "As the handwritten score is one of a kind, only the first winning bidder may exercise this right. Please note that the handwritten score cannot be provided to anyone who obtains this NFT through secondary sales or other means." In other words, the score is sold as a set with the NFT.

Tetsuya Komuro's original stem data (synthesizer audio delivered to the first 10 buyers only)

Based on "Internet for Everyone," a piece Tetsuya Komuro wrote in 2015, the original track was split by part into 6 tracks and sold as original stem data. Holder-only content includes tempo-information MIDI data and the right to download the stem data you hold. On top of that, as a purchase and holder perk, the first 10 buyers/holders of the NFT receive synthesizer audio newly played by Komuro — making this an NFT with rich holder perks that go beyond the NFT itself.

Japan-related NFT issuance examples on overseas services

"Doge" Kabosu photo NFT

An image NFT of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu who inspired the cryptocurrency "Dogecoin," sold at a charity auction for approximately ¥470 million.

Kabosu is a Shiba Inu famous on the internet. The "internet meme" of adding captions and lines to her photos became hugely popular, which led to the creation of the cryptocurrency "Dogecoin."

Part of the auction proceeds will be donated to charities and other organizations.

Yui Hatano NFT trading cards

Yui Hatano, known as an adult film actress, turned images of herself into NFT trading cards and sold a limited run of 3000 on the NFT sales platform "DODO NFT."

The cards were divided into 6 types by rarity, and buyers received them at random. The 10 rarest cards carried Hatano's autograph.

Pricing rose each time a certain number of cards sold, and the last 2 cards were priced at about ¥3.5 million. Any unsold cards were to be "burned" (the process of permanently destroying a token), but all 3,000 cards sold out within 7 minutes of the sale's start.

Astro Boy digital mosaic art NFT

A digital mosaic art NFT composed of Osamu Tezuka's manga manuscripts was sold at auction, with a winning bid of 120 ETH (approx. ¥50 million) on December 18, 2021.

The character portion was created from the black-and-white manuscripts of the original manga; the manuscripts were cut into more than 40,000 small square pieces and arranged to form the character image. The background combines color manuscripts from a variety of works.

In addition, 1,000 "Astro Boy" generative art NFTs were sold at the same time for 0.08 ETH each and sold out.

NFT of Aimi Sekiguchi's VR art

On March 25, 2021, an NFT artwork by world-renowned VR artist Aimi Sekiguchi was listed on the NFT marketplace OpenSea and won at auction the same day for approximately ¥13 million (69.697 ETH).

The VR artwork sold, "Alternate dimension 幻想絢爛 (Genso Kenran)," was Sekiguchi's first NFT artwork.

Sekiguchi is world-famous as an artist who draws 3D art in VR space using "Tilt Brush," a VR painting app developed by Google. Viewers can step into the VR space with a VR device and experience the work.

NFT of BABYMETAL's 10th anniversary trading cards

NFT trading cards were sold to commemorate the 10th anniversary of BABYMETAL, a Japanese female metal-dance duo.

Each set combined 10 cards, with designs symbolizing each chapter of "METAL RESISTANCE, all 10 chapters" (representing BABYMETAL's 10 years of activity), and a gold-vinyl analog record of the best-of album "10 BABYMETAL YEARS." Sales were limited to 1,000 sets, priced at $100 per set.

The trading cards sold out within minutes of going on sale, and the release of various other NFT items is being considered.

NFT cards of the popular LINE sticker "Nyatchees"

"Nyatchees" are characters built on the concept of "unidentified creatures (UMA) that look like cats but aren't cats," and are a popular set of LINE stickers with more than 4 million downloads.

"Nyatchees" NFT cards were sold at auction on the OVO platform.

Four NFT cards were listed, with one auctioned per day over 4 days. The first 2 days were sluggish, but prices then surged to ¥620,000 on day 3 and ¥3.55 million on day 4, generating plenty of excitement.

The OVO (the Only Value Observation) platform is an NFT platform launched on July 3, 2021. It has signed contracts with well-known Japanese content holders and creators, and this content is scheduled to be released in stages.

NFT of the "Sauna Land" e-book and publishing rights

"Sauna Land" is a sauna magazine, edited and launched by editor Kosuke Minowa with crowdfunding, that attracted a lot of attention.

"Sauna Land" was turned into an e-book, and a single NFT was issued and auctioned. Notably, as a new experiment, the NFT came not only with the e-book but also with commercial rights to publish and sell the e-book.

The "Sauna Land" e-book NFT sold at auction for approximately ¥2.76 million.

NFT of Akihiro Nishino's new picture book "The Ugly Marco"

Three images from Akihiro Nishino's new picture book "The Ugly Marco" were sold at auction as NFTs. Winning bidders are listed on the official "The Ugly Marco" website as owners of the images, and NFT owners received the perk of being able to display the images on their own websites and elsewhere.

Momoiro Clover Z NFT trading cards

A limited 2,288 packs were sold, each containing 10 cards (26 designs in total), at ¥10,800 (tax included) per pack. Perks included a "piece of a signed board illustrated by a member" for buyers who drew a winning NFT, and a joker card NFT for collecting 22 or more cards.

NFT issuance examples on overseas services

NFT of Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days"

"Everydays: The First 5000 Days," an NFT artwork by Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist known online as "Beeple," sold at auction for approximately ¥7.5 billion (approx. $69.35 million).

The work is a collage of about 5,000 digital artworks that Winkelmann created every day starting in 2007.

Beyond the extraordinary winning bid of about ¥7.5 billion for a piece of digital art, it also made headlines that Christie's, an auction house with more than 250 years of history, handled a purely digital work. The sale showed new possibilities for digital works.

CryptoPunks NFT art

CryptoPunks are 24×24-pixel digital artworks made with a pixel character creation tool. New York software company Larva Lab has been releasing them in stages since 2017, and they are said to be among the oldest NFT art.

In March 2021, an image of an alien wearing a hat (a "punk") sold on OpenSea for approximately ¥814 million (4,200 ETH), and in May a set of 9 punks put up at Christie's sold for approximately ¥1.85 billion.

NFT of Tim Berners-Lee's WWW source code

Tim Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist who invented the "World Wide Web (WWW)" that marked the beginning of the internet as we know it, and he is called the "father of the web."

The WWW source code was turned into an NFT and sold at an auction by Sotheby's, the major American auction house, for approximately ¥600 million ($5,434,500).

In addition to 9555 lines of WWW source code, the auctioned NFT included a digital letter by Berners-Lee about its development and an animation visualizing the code.

The proceeds from the auction are reportedly being donated to charity.

Jack Dorsey's tweet NFT

The first tweet by Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, was turned into an NFT and sold at auction for approximately ¥320 million.

The tweet turned into an NFT was "just setting up my twttr." It was sold in auction format on the NFT auction site "Valuables."

Dorsey donated all the proceeds from the auction to GiveDirectly, a nonprofit working on poverty in Africa.

Eminem's NFT works

NFT works by Marshall Mathers, the world-famous hip-hop MC and rapper known as "Eminem," were sold in auction format and fetched approximately ¥194 million ($1.78 million).

These were Eminem's first NFT works. Along with 3 animated pieces using original beats produced by Eminem himself, trading cards and other items were also sold.

Some limited-edition works came with signed film art and an Eminem action figure.

NFT of EtherRock

EtherRock is a rock-themed NFT sold in a limited edition of 100. Sold in 2017, it is one of the early NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. EtherRock is described as having no purpose other than being able to be carried around and sold, and the pride of owning 1 of the 100 (" These virtual rocks serve NO PURPOSE beyond being able to be brought and sold, and giving you a strong sense of pride in being an owner of 1 of the only 100 rocks in the game 🙂 ").

One EtherRock has traded for 400 ETH (approx. ¥142 million).

NFT of CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties is a blockchain game in which you raise and breed digital cats to create new cats. The cats can be bought and sold as NFTs, and rare cats trading at high prices helped spark the NFT boom.

The highest price so far went to a cat named "Dragon," which traded for 600 ETH (approx. ¥19 million).

CryptoKitties remains very popular, and new digital cats are created every day.

NFT of virtual land in Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is a blockchain game in which players raise and battle characters called "Axies."

Land NFTs in the virtual world of Axie Infinity were bought by a member of the game's community for approximately ¥165 million (888.25 ETH).

The sale covered 9 plots of highly scarce land, of which there are only 220 plots in the game. The sale coincided with a planned update that would let players explore land and gather resources in the game.

Buyers can also rent out the land they purchase to earn rent, or hold in-game events to raise the value of their land.

NFT of NBA Top Shot

"NBA Top Shot" turns video highlights of NBA players' in-game plays into digital trading cards.

Hard-to-get cards of popular players trade at high prices. The highest price so far went to a card capturing a one-handed dunk by LeBron James, which traded for approximately ¥22.7 million.

Card packs are hugely popular and sell out right after release.

NFT of Hashmasks

Hashmasks is an NFT digital art project in which 70 anonymous artists from around the world created 16384 portraits.

Every portrait in Hashmasks wears a mask and strikes the same pose, but each artist's individuality shows in details such as eye color, skin color, and the items the figures hold.

The first edition, released on January 28, 2021, sold out, and you can now buy them on the secondary market through OpenSea and other platforms. Rare Hashmasks fetch high prices; one of them, the "Demon with a halo," made headlines when it was bought for approximately ¥69 million (420 ETH).

Another feature is that Hashmasks holders receive NCT (Name Changing Token) every day; once you collect a certain amount, you can change the name of a Hashmask you hold.

NFT of artwork by the AI robot Sophia

An NFT artwork created by the AI robot "Sophia" sold at auction for approximately ¥75 million ($688,888).

Sophia is a humanoid robot equipped with AI (artificial intelligence) that can walk and talk.

The NFT work sold, "Sophia Instantiation," was created in collaboration with Italian digital artist Andrea Bonaceto. A 12-second video file captures Sophia reading Bonaceto's work with her built-in camera and using an AI neural network to turn it into a work of her own.

Beyond creating the artwork, Sophia even used an AI natural-language generator to comment on the piece just like an artist would.

NFT of the word "Test"

An NFT of the word "Test," written by Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the crypto exchange FTX International, was bought for approximately ¥30 million.

It was titled "Testing Testing123＃1" and sold as the very first NFT to test NFT sales on FTX US's NFT platform; thanks to the buzz it generated, it fetched $270,000.