IZU to DAO to Debut IZU DAO STORE at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival, Fostering Community Engagement Beyond Tourism

IZU to DAO LLC, headquartered in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture and represented by Naoyuki Kondo, Erena Tsukada, and Hiroyuki Suzuki, will open its first “IZU DAO STORE,” a slightly futuristic market for enjoying Izu together, during the 87th Black Ship Festival in Shimoda on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, 2026. Since beginning official operations in November 2025, IZU DAO has registered more than 500 members from 10 countries and regions, mainly in southern Izu Peninsula, and has brought in more than 50 participating organizations within about six months. Centered on “IZU POINT,” a local community point system that visualizes gratitude, the initiative connects travelers, residents, workers, and other diverse participants across regions and borders. From Shimoda, the historic gateway of Japan’s opening to the world, a new regional model is spreading in which people grow the town together. IZU DAO is also holding “IZU DAO Experience Tours.” These tours allow participants to experience the mechanism and philosophy of IZU DAO firsthand and use IZU POINT to get a feel for the future of the region. Details are available via the official Instagram account or by email. IZU to DAO LLC operates “IZU DAO,” a community for travelers, residents, and workers to grow Izu together across conventional boundaries, based on the idea that the Izu Peninsula has developed as a place where people and cultures have mixed across the sea. During the 87th Black Ship Festival, Shimoda’s largest festival, the company will open “IZU DAO STORE” as a real-world community touchpoint where local residents, migrants, dual-location residents, digital nomads, and tourists can meet on equal footing. At the store, visitors can use “IZU POINT,” earned by helping with local activities, to exchange for surplus vegetables and food, as well as unused clothes and small items. A children’s experience area will also be available. IZU POINT cannot be exchanged for legal tender or crypto assets; it is a community point system that visualizes gratitude within the region. The IZU DAO STORE will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on May 16 and 17, 2026, at elenanchi 1F in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. Offerings will include Loss cafe & Food, featuring menus made with ingredients that would otherwise go unused locally, such as fish ara-jiru soup, coffee, and freshly squeezed New Summer Orange juice; surplus and non-standard local vegetables such as freshly harvested onions and broad beans; circulation of unused clothes and small goods collected through the IZU DAO community; and a slime-making workshop for children. As of April 2026, IZU POINT continues to expand in southern Izu Peninsula. The points give tangible form to gratitude within the region and create a daily cycle of appreciation and connection, such as “thank you for helping,” “I’ll share what I have extra,” and “I want to support local initiatives.” Examples of ways to earn points include beach cleanups, grass cutting, social media posts, DIY assistance, reel video production, local event promotion, and Google reviews. Examples of ways to use points include stays in vacant rooms, leftover sashimi before a regular closing day, meals made with surplus ingredients, and use of shared spaces. Anyone can participate by registering on the official LINE account, and requests for help are shared daily in the community’s open chat. Within about six months of its official launch in November 2025, IZU DAO has surpassed 500 official LINE registrations, more than 350 wallet registrations, 20 overseas wallet registrations across 10 countries and regions, about 50 participating organizations, more than 50 inspection visits, and 40 employee-rights NFT holders who are non-executive members. Its design philosophy, “regardless of how long you have lived here or what title you hold, if you love Izu, you have an equal vote,” is gaining resonance across regions and borders. IZU DAO is also currently offering experience tours. While explaining the system and philosophy behind questions such as “What is a DAO?” and “How is IZU POINT actually used?”, the tours let participants experience IZU POINT and the future of the region. Inquiries can be made via the official Instagram account, https://www.instagram.com/izutodao/, or by email at info@izudao.net. Founded in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture in 2025, IZU to DAO LLC is a regional co-creation platform that uses Web3 mechanisms to foster relationships with towns that go beyond tourism. Against the background of Izu Peninsula’s port-town culture of welcoming outsiders and blending together, the company aims to loosely connect diverse people including travelers, residents, migrants, nomads, and students, creating new value for the region. Based on this philosophy, it is implementing a DAO-style town development model that increases cross-border participation in the region through the local token “IZU POINT,” centered on visualizing involvement, and “employee-rights NFTs,” which allow people around the world to participate with voting rights. Further details are available on the official website.