In July 2024, Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. (MRI) launched MYAKU-PO!, a rewards program and accompanying app offered as part of the EXPO2025 Digital Wallet service.

The MYAKU-PO! program aims at building momentum for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan (Expo 2025) while at the same encouraging activities that contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). MYAKU-PO! users can earn points by participating in SDG-aligned activities related to Expo 2025 events and themes, hopefully becoming more excited about the upcoming Expo in the process.

MRI senior researcher Masami Okada explains. “We learned from our previous pilot programs that we could foster behavioral changes that match up with SDG initiatives by offering reward points,” she says. “The nudge approach in behavioral economics is also part of it. Hopefully we are giving people a small push to take more eco-friendly actions.”

The EXPO2025 Digital Wallet is an app service designed to promote cashless payments at Expo 2025 while also ramping up excitement in the lead-up to the event, publicizing its themes related to digital technologies and actions for the future, and encouraging people to get involved.

MYAKU-PO! points can be earned by using services offered by designated businesses and organizations or by converting points gained through such services. They can also be earned by participating in designated events or taking actions that contribute to achieving one or more of the SDGs. The accumulated points can be redeemed for limited-edition Expo-related merchandise, Expo 2025 admission tickets, or special experiences and services offered within the Expo site.

Preceding this initiative, MRI entered into a business alliance with Resona Bank, Limited in October 2023 regarding digital regional currency services based on MRI’s Region Ring platform. Under the partnership, MRI implemented a premium voucher program for Wakayama City in 2024. In addition, MRI and the bank have been advancing a digital wallet service in the Osaka region, providing a package of services including a digital regional currency program, vouchers, reward points, payroll services, and more.

Building on its promotion of MYAKU-PO! and track record for Region Ring, MRI intends to accelerate its collaboration with Resona Bank in the Osaka region. Specifically, MRI will expand the user base of the Osaka digital wallet initiative and explore the possibility of a regional currency circulation system to help the region achieve sustainable development.

MRI’s proprietary Region Ring, a digital regional currency service aimed at resolving regional issues, constitutes the core of the series of initiatives.

Region Ring users can, on a single platform, manage and issue colored coins, which are similar to Bitcoin but have additional features attached to them that allow them to be used for such purposes as digital currency, e-money, reward points, and digital tickets. Region Ring also offers a high level of security and can be adopted at a reasonable cost per region or program. It can best be described as something similar to the QR code payment service.

But why would a think tank like MRI engage in a digital regional currency service? Yoshinori Saki, who is MRI’s General Manager, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, explains. “We have been working on Region Ring for around seven years, since our first pilot project in 2017,” he observes. “It all started when an MRI researcher working on developing new businesses realized that combining blockchain with AI and big data analysis could help in tackling societal issues. The researcher then designed the service and promoted it. Our researchers working on regional and urban development then joined in, and we started building up use cases for triggering behavioral changes conducive to revitalizing regions and solving social problems. MRI ended up renewing its guiding principles in 2020, which in turn called for us to develop and implement innovative services by making use of the expertise we gained through our research and consulting projects. The digital regional currency service uses blockchain to fulfill the Expo 2025 philosophy. Our goal is to facilitate the circulation of currency within our target regions, rather than making a service that reaches as far and wide as possible.”

Region Ring is essentially a digital platform designed to resolve diverse regional issues in an integrated manner. Its aim is to prompt regional actions to promote health, regional revitalization, tourism, and SDG-related activities while also advancing digital administration, supporting different ways of working, and addressing wide-ranging challenges faced by regions.

Today, Region Ring is increasingly used for regional currency services and premium regional voucher programs aimed at attracting shoppers to local stores and boosting local consumption. It is also being used for rewards and points programs that prompt SDG-aligned and healthy behavioral changes among local residents and the issuing of welfare service vouchers and gift certificates for young families and the elderly.

“We hope to use the Expo as an opportunity to try out different MYAKU-PO!-based nudges to encourage behavioral changes among those in the general public who otherwise might struggle to take action,” says Ms. Okada.

MRI is hoping to enhance its presence in the Kansai region through its Expo 2025 initiatives. Incidentally, MRI’s Kansai base was established in 1970, the year of Expo ’70 in Osaka as well as the founding year of MRI itself. Hence, the company’s history in the Kansai region also spans more than 50 years. MRI has been working hard on the Expo 2025 project for almost four years. Harutoshi Imamura, MRI’s World Expo Office Leader, fills in some details about the endeavor:

“We were even involved in the creation of the Master Plan for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. Our contract-based work as a think tank would usually end there, but this time around we’re using the Expo as an opportunity to explore new business models. I myself am taking on new challenges, creating videos and exhibition booths with creators and local businesspeople. MRI is doing things that it would never have tried before. We are hoping to make full use of Expo 2025 to put our ideas into practice and take a step forward.”

Expo 2025 is facing considerable criticism but, on the flip side, it provides companies with a perfect opportunity to try out future-oriented services and technologies. What aspirations does MRI have for Expo 2025? Mr. Saki’s answer is as follows:

“I hope that Expo 2025 will be a place of discovery for MRI. We have put our faith in the opportunities offered by the Expo and became a sponsor. Since the start is six months away, details about the pavilions are beginning to be revealed, and I’m clearly sensing a positive shift in public sentiment toward the Expo.”

Answering before him, Mr. Imamura points out that it is “difficult to say what constitutes a successful Expo.”

“When I went to the Dubai Expo and the Paris Olympics,” he continues, “the energy of both the cities was palpable, and it was backed by the efforts of citizens to maintain their city’s brand. The key is whether visitors will be impressed by the host city, even for a split second. I truly hope that Osaka can successfully boost its own brand. A huge number of people will come to Expo 2025 from around the world. I hope we can make the most of this opportunity and enhance Osaka’s capacity as a city, thrusting it forward on the world stage and bringing it closer to the position it envisions for itself.”

“The ideal is that visitors feel glad they came,” chimes in Ms. Okada. “I don’t want them to be disappointed. I hope that the act of collecting MYAKU-PO! points will help them become aware of actions that can be taken to help resolve societal issues. What I want is for each visitor to have a memorable experience.”