Kirifuda Dispatches 'CAIO Assistant' to Tagawa City, Fukuoka: Promoting Local Government DX with AI and Blockchain

Kirifuda Dispatches 'CAIO Assistant' to Tagawa City, Fukuoka ### Promoting Local Government DX via AI and Blockchain through the 'Regional Revitalization Entrepreneur' System

**Kirifuda Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Hideyuki Akagawa) announced on April 3, 2026, that it will dispatch specialized personnel to the newly established 'CAIO (Chief AI Officer) Assistant' post in Tagawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, utilizing the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' 'Regional Revitalization Entrepreneur' system. This dispatch is the first concrete measure under Japan's first comprehensive collaboration agreement on a blockchain, signed in March 2026. It aims to promote administrative DX and improve resident services using AI and blockchain technology.**

### Background and Challenges Across Japan, local governments face urgent challenges in responding to population decline, aging, and digitalizing administrative services. Tagawa City, while historically supporting Japan's modernization as the largest coal mining town in Chikuho, faces rapid population decline (especially among young people in their 20s) and an aging population.

Issues such as the information gap with urban areas and the weakening of connections across generations are also challenges. Tagawa City has been promoting the renewal of the 'City OS' through both 'operational efficiency through administrative DX' and 'activation of co-creation through Web3 for residents.'

In this context, there is a need to build a system to professionally promote AI utilization, and a movement to establish dedicated AI utilization posts in local governments across the country is spreading.

### Overview of Initiatives #### Role of CAIO Assistant The CAIO Assistant will leverage the know-how, networks, and expertise cultivated at Kirifuda to plan, formulate, and implement projects to improve the city's charm and value and revitalize the regional economy.

| Project | Description | | :--- | :--- | | Resolving Regional/Administrative Challenges using Generative AI | Expand the base of digital utilization through projects that deliver generative AI technology to citizens and the region. | | Promoting Regional and Administrative DX | Resolve regional challenges using digital technology and plan/operate digital events for citizens. | | Promoting Regional Revitalization via Web3 Technology | Drive regional revitalization through Web3 technology, including the development of the citizen participation platform 'TAGAWA Digital Connect.' | | Others | Projects implemented upon consultation between Tagawa City and Kirifuda. |

### Record of Collaboration with Tagawa City The collaboration between Kirifuda and Tagawa City began in September 2025 with social implementation support for 'TAGAWA Digital Connect.' In January 2026, the platform was officially released, and the issuance of 'Digital Tagawa Citizen ID' NFTs—a Japan-first for a municipality-led Web3 citizen participation platform—began.

On March 18, 2026, a Japan-first comprehensive collaboration agreement on a blockchain was signed, and this talent dispatch is positioned as the first concrete measure of that agreement.

### Comment from Takuya Murakami, Mayor of Tagawa City 'Tagawa City aims to be the "most convenient rural town in Japan," and digital utilization is indispensable for that. While we have been working to make citizens feel familiar with digital, the current situation is that the expansion is still shallow. We expect the CAIO Assistant to help citizens use Web3 technology and AI more familiarly and to proceed with initiatives that lead to regional economic revitalization with a sense of speed.'

### Comment from Hideyuki Akagawa, CEO of Kirifuda Inc. 'We are very honored to sign this agreement with Tagawa City for the Web3 citizen participation platform "TAGAWA Digital Connect." We strongly resonate with Tagawa City's vision of being the "most convenient rural town in Japan." It is not technology itself that solves regional challenges, but the power of people connecting through technology. On this platform, citizens' participation in regional activities and their contributions are visualized digitally, eventually leading to an economic cycle through stablecoins. We want to transmit from Tagawa City to the whole country a new form of region where "contribution" and "economy" are naturally linked. Kirifuda will fully promote this challenge with Tagawa City as a partner supporting the social implementation of blockchain.'