Polkadot’s Astar Network Partners Tokyo’s Shibuya in support of Web3 strategy

Polkadot’s leading parachain and innovation hub, Astar Network, has partnered with Tokyo’s special district of Shibuya to support the city’s Web3 initiative.

This is according to a press release sent to CryptoPotatothe partnership will see Astar and Shibuya working together to deliver the development of Tokyo’s Web3 strategy.

Astar network partners Shibuya City

According to the release, the alliance is the first between a Japanese blockchain company and one of Tokyo’s largest and most populous districts.

Known as a major commercial and financial center, Shibuya is home to two of the world’s busiest train stations and one of Japan’s top fashion districts. The department is also the headquarters of the Japanese branch of the multinational technology company Google.

Through the partnership, Astar will support Shibuya’s Startup Support activities by hosting Web3-focused events, including educational programs and hackathons.

Commenting on the partnership, Sota Watanabe, the CEO of Astar Foundation said:

“Shibuya is the largest youth city in Japan and the city of startups. It is known as Japan’s Silicon Valley, or “Bit Valley”, derived from a place in Shibuya (渋谷), a combination of Bitter (渋) and Valley (谷). We are honored to have opened our office in this tech hub and signed a basic agreement with the city to use web3.”

Astar promotes Web3’s growth in Japan

Since its launch in January 2019, Astar network has played an important role in the growth and development of the Web3 space in Japan. As a blockchain innovation hub, the platform promotes Web3 adoption through education for engineers and business leaders to get involved in the nascent industry.

Last month, Astar entered into a partnership with Sony Network Communications, a business division of The Sony Group, a major Japanese technology company, to nurture Web3 projects through an incubation program.

The program is for projects focused on the utility of non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) and runs from mid-March to mid-June.