Japan Enters the Tokenization Race

Japan just fired its biggest shot yet in the real estate tokenization race, a $75 million portfolio in central Tokyo.

GATES Inc. has begun tokenizing prime properties in the heart of Tokyo on the Oasys blockchain. The initial tranche is worth $75 million, but the firm’s ambition reaches much further. Its stated goal is to tokenize up to $200 billion of assets, equal to about 1% of Japan’s $20.5 trillion property market. While Japan has seen earlier pilots and security token offerings, none have matched this scale or vision. For investors, it represents a new gateway into fractional ownership of Tokyo real estate that was once out of reach.

What looks like a single pilot project today may be the start of Asia’s biggest tokenization wave.

Headlines in tokenized real estate have focused on Dubai, the U.S., and Europe. But Asia has been steadily rising too with Bali paving the way and now Japan stepping into the spotlight.

Japan was absent from the conversation. That silence just ended. By planting a flag in the heart of Tokyo, GATES Inc. has repositioned the country as a serious contender in the race to digitize property ownership. The scale of its ambition — $200 billion — makes this more than a marketing stunt.

Japan is not a newcomer to financial innovation.

Its regulators have been cautious but pragmatic in their embrace of digital assets, learning from both the crypto boom and its many failures. What sets this project apart is that it’s not being led by a speculative startup with little to lose.

GATES is a real estate player with a strategy to convert income-producing properties into blockchain-based tokens, creating both immediate utility and long-term credibility.

The project uses the Oasys blockchain, a platform originally known for gaming applications.

At first glance, this might seem like an odd choice — why not Ethereum or Polygon? But Oasys offers high throughput and a low-cost environment that can support large-scale token issuance without clogging up the network. For investors, this means smoother trades, lower fees, and a more reliable infrastructure for property tokens. Each token represents a fractional interest in Tokyo real estate. Instead of needing millions to buy into a high-rise or commercial complex, investors can purchase digital shares backed by the property’s income and appreciation potential. The tokens are recorded immutably on-chain, with smart contracts handling compliance, revenue distribution, and future transfers.

This reduces reliance on intermediaries and brings liquidity to an asset class that has historically been locked away for decades at a time.

When compared to Dubai’s $16 billion Land Department initiative, Japan’s first $75 million tranche looks small.

But context matters. Dubai’s program is largely government-driven, designed to cement its status as a global hub for real estate and finance. Japan’s project, by contrast, is private-sector led — and that can actually accelerate experimentation and scaling without waiting for regulatory bureaucracy. In the U.S., tokenization has mostly been limited to pilot projects and niche platforms. Europe, meanwhile, has seen tokenization tied closely to regulated funds, but uptake remains slow.

By jumping straight to prime Tokyo real estate, GATES has cut through the usual “sandbox” approach and gone directly to a market where global investors are eager to participate.

For international investors, Japanese real estate is often seen as stable, prestigious, and resilient.

Tokyo consistently ranks as one of the most liquid real estate markets in the world, second only to cities like New York and London. Tokenization makes that market accessible to a broader pool of investors who may never set foot in Japan. Fractional ownership means lower entry costs, diversified exposure, and easier exits. Instead of waiting years to liquidate an investment, tokens can — in theory — be traded in secondary markets within minutes. For younger investors, it represents an opportunity to add real estate to their portfolios without the typical six-figure buy-in.

For institutions, it offers a new way to package and distribute property-backed securities with global reach.

That’s a wrap

Talk soon!

Kevin