Japan is indeed a country that is quite forward thinking when it comes to blockchain technology. This is further advanced with the suggestion that the government will be introducing an blockchain solution that will allow consumers to track the supply chain of the meat that they are about to eat.
A division of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, forestry and Fisheries will use the blockchain to track the supply of this wild game meat. The Japan Gibier Association is in charge of the hunting standards for wild animals and for the distribution of their meat across japan. They are collaborating with a start up called Tech Bureau to use Mijin which is a blockchain that is based on the NEM protocol.
This was spurred partly by the fall in the number of licensed hunters in Japan. For example, according to a report by the Japan Times, there are only 198k hunters in Japan currently. This is down from a high of 518k in 1975. Furthermore, they found that at least 66% of these remaining hunters are over 60 years old. This has obviously led to an explosion in the population of deer and wild boar. These animals are also quite detrimental to the general environment.
The cheif executive of Tech Bureau, Takao Asayama claimed that Blockchain was the solution to the wild animals. He said:
Some rural communities suffer from wildlife overpopulation, amounting to over $178 million USD per year. The power of blockchain technology is that it can transform one of the oldest food supplies into an asset for local communities. Some rural communities suffer from wildlife overpopulation, amounting to over $178 million USD per year. The power of blockchain technology is that it can transform one of the oldest food supplies into an asset for local communities
When the animal enters the processing facility, their information is entered on the immutable ledger. These will then be compared to data on the established supply chain. If there is any discrepency between the two records then an alert is sent that something appears to be out of sync.
Image From Mijin
In terms of the data that will be entered on the chain, there will be information on the date the animal came in, its route to the factory, the name of the eventual product as well as the price. The eventual target is to rollout the program nationwide.
A Growing Trend
We have previously covered the benefits of blockhain in supply chain management and its global adoption. What is indeed evident is that Japanese corporates as well as government agencies see the benefit of this technology.
There has also been news out of Hitachi which is a large Japanese conglomerate. They have used the Mijin blockchain for their current rewards program called Pointinfinity.
Featured Image via Fotolia
