A survey of Japanese businesses has found that 57% of companies are considering blockchain adoption – but most fear that Japan is lagging behind other nations in the race to get blockchain-powered solutions up and running in the corporate world.
These were the findings of a report from Tokyo-based blockchain business consultancy CryptoPie. The company says it surveyed 125 Japanese companies between March 8 and April 30 this year.
The report’s authors stated that larger enterprises, medium-sized ventures and smaller enterprises – working in a range of business sectors – all took part in the survey.
Adoption rates appear to be relatively encouraging: 24% of companies said that they had already introduced blockchain-powered solutions, or were working on proof-of-concept or pilot projects involving blockchain technology.
However, almost 44% expressed some level of uncertainty about whether they would really be able to implement blockchain solutions in the future.
A third of companies stated that they could not see the benefits of implementing blockchain-powered solutions – with only 11% stating that they could envisage blockchain technology having a direct impact on their financial performance.
The respondents also identified hurdles that they felt might hold back blockchain-related progress, with one third claiming that profitability was an obstacle, with 19% stating that “insufficient inter-departmental understanding of blockchain technology” was likely to hinder adoption.
Over half claimed that blockchain awareness was lower in Japan than in other countries, with only 14% believing Japan is ahead of the chasing pack. That said, a whopping 96% of respondents said that they hear the word “blockchain” more nowadays than they did three years ago.
Per figures compiled by Japan’s NGB late last year, and reported by Nikkei, Chinese companies lodged 7,600 patent applications in the period 2009 through 2018 – with Japan-based companies filing just 380 in the same time period.
The Japanese government – not used to losing tech races against China – has attempted to redress the situation. Earlier this year the regulatory Financial Services Agency launched an initiative designed to foster “sustainable development” in the country’s blockchain sector.