Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s 23 special wards, is letting gamers turn their taxes into gacha pulls through Japan’s hometown tax donation program.
As reported by ITmedia, Shibuya Ward announced on August 25 that players of the long-running Japanese mobile games Monster Strike and Kotodaman can now receive in-game currency as a reward for making tax contributions. Players will be rewarded with Orbs and Rainbow Kotodama, premium currencies which are normally purchased with real cash.
As mentioned, this is part of Japan’s “Furusato Nozei” (hometown tax contribution) system. Instead of just paying all your income tax to the central government, the program allows you to choose a specific city (for example, your own hometown) to “donate” part of it to. In return, those places send you rewards. These gifts are usually local specialties like premium rice brands, wagyu beef and teas, or crafted objects like kitchen knives and ceramics. Amidst these kinds of reward lineups, Shibuya, as the epitome of “modern Tokyo,” has decided to partner with domestic IT giant MIXI to offer gacha money.
According to the Furusato Tax Research Insititute, Japanese taxpayers can choose from three tiers, at approximately $70, $200, and $340 worth of annual income tax. In-game money is redeemed through a serial code received after the contribution is made. A Japanese Monster Strike player on X says that Shibuya Ward’s deals offer better value-for-money than when directly purchasing Orbs in the game.
This is not the first case of unusual rewards making it into Japan’s tax contribution program, as there have been prior instances of NFTs and other in-game items being offered. However, these did not prove popular and failed to catch on long-term. Additionally, the concept of offering gacha currency has also raised some concerns due to it being a very “money-like” reward. Japan has previously banned gift cards and coupons with high monetary value in the Furusato Nozei program, as they could potentially be resold for cash and thus facilitate tax evasion. As such, Shibuya Ward’s gacha money initiative is an experimental one, but it will be interesting to see whether it catches on in the country.
