Bitcoin Finds A Home In The Heart Of Tokyo
In the southeast ward of Shinjuku, one of the most highly-trafficked areas of Tokyo, lies Tokyo Bitcoin Base, a shared workspace and event venue for Bitcoin enthusiasts and the Bitcoin curious.
Located in a well-kept four-story building on a relatively quiet block in the revitalized area around Yotsuya Station, Tokyo Bitcoin Base is something of an oasis — both a place of refuge from the bustling Tokyo streets and a safe space Japanese and international Bitcoiners alike to discuss and learn about Bitcoin in a city and country that still has its doubts about Bitcoin’s legitimacy.
While the Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet has has done its part in bringing attention to bitcoin as an investable asset in the eyes of many Japanese people, as evidenced in part by the 3000+ attendees at its extraordinary general meeting for shareholders last week, few to no entities in Japan are educating people about Bitcoin’s technological underpinnings, how bitcoin stands apart from other forms of money, and how to use it.
Rintaro Kawai, CEO of Fulgur Ventures Japan, noticed this gap and wanted to do something about it.
“People want to ask questions about Bitcoin, but they don’t know where to ask, and they want to learn about Bitcoin, but they don’t know where to learn,” Kawai told me in an in-person interview at Tokyo Bitcoin Base. “So, the team at Fulgur Ventures came to the conclusion that it would be best to have a physical space and decided to open Tokyo Bitcoin Base.”
Opening Tokyo Bitcoin Base
Kawai and other higher-ups at Fulgur Ventures made the decision to open Tokyo Bitcoin Base in the middle of 2024, and they began bringing the project to life with haste.
In September 2024, Fulgur Ventures Japan team member Teruko Neriki announced at Bitcoin Tokyo 2024, Japan’s first-ever Bitcoin conference, that Fulgur Ventures would establish Tokyo Bitcoin Base.
Just over half a year later, after some light renovations to the Tokyo Bitcoin Base building, which was already a co-working space, Tokyo Bitcoin Base opened on April 25, 2025.
“At the grand opening, we welcomed about 100 Bitcoin builders, investors, and entrepreneurs," Neriki told me in an interview. "At the event, we unveiled the statue of Satoshi, currently just one of three in the world, and shared our mission to ‘make Japan a great Bitcoin nation again.’”
Bringing Bitcoin Back To Japan
From 2010 to 2014, upwards of 70% of bitcoin trading volume went through the now defunct Mt. Gox exchange, which was headquartered in Japan.
In early 2014, the exchange went under due to a hack that resulted in the theft of hundreds of thousands of bitcoin.
This resulted in long-lasting Bitcoin PTSD in Japan and caused many Japanese people to lose faith in Bitcoin.
Neriki shared that most Mt. Gox creditors “left the Bitcoin space, retired, or shifted to Web3.”
She’s looking to not only reach some of the former Bitcoin enthusiasts who left the Bitcoin space because of Mt. Gox but to also bring groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in the Bitcoin space — women and Gen Z in particular — into it.
She hopes that these groups will come to Tokyo Bitcoin Base and see that Bitcoin isn’t “criminal or shady,” which is how it’s often depicted in the mainstream media in Japan.
The appearance of the building and even many who frequent it add to the legitimacy of Bitcoin, according to Neriki.
“Normal-looking people or sometimes people wearing suits go in and out of the beautiful, well-maintained building,” she said.
Events, Education and Collaboration
Tokyo Bitcoin Base currently hosts monthly beginner-friendly Bitcoin meetups, social gatherings on the first Friday of every month, and “TBB Connections” functions, which serve as networking events for members of the co-working space. The TBB Connections events often feature well-known personalities in the Bitcoin space.
Bitcoin developer and educator Jimmy Song, Jan3 CEO Samson Mow, and Bitcoin Policy Institute co-founder David Zell have all recently spoken at said events at Tokyo Bitcoin Base.
Tokyo Bitcoin Base also works closely with the Plan ₿ Network, a global Bitcoin network that supports Bitcoin learners and educators, as well as Thailand’s BOB Space. The three entities share operational know-how as well as best practices and resources for their educational efforts.
Tokyo Bitcoin Base will also support the BOB Space’s upcoming residency program for Bitcoin developers, as part of the program will take place at Tokyo Bitcoin Base, with Tokyo Bitcoin Base covering the cost of round trip flights from Bangkok to Tokyo as well as accommodations for the developers while they are in Tokyo.
In November, Tokyo Bitcoin Base will make another effort to support Bitcoin developers: It will host BUIDL @ Tokyo Bitcoin Base, a new Bitcoin technology conference meant to foster collaboration amongst the technically-inclined in the Bitcoin space. The event will be part of Bitcoin Japan 2025.
The Bigger Vision
In the coming years, Neriki sees Tokyo Bitcoin Base serving as an accelerator for Bitcoin startups, especially Japanese ones, as this would align with Fulgur Ventures’ mission as a venture capital firm.
Kawai also sees Tokyo Bitcoin Base expanding its offerings, though his vision includes Tokyo Bitcoin Base expanding further out into physical space.
“The main goal is to not only make this building a Bitcoin space but to make all of Yotsuya something like El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach,” said Kawai.
What is more, he believes that Bitcoiners will also need a place to stay when they come to visit Tokyo Bitcoin Base, so Fulgur Ventures Japan recently purchased an eight-room hotel and a residential building (a “studio house,” as Kawai calls it) with 10 rooms, both just a few blocks from Tokyo Bitcoin Base. The latter will be used for the likes of Bitcoin developers or nomad Bitcoin enthusiast couples who come to Japan for an extended stay.
Fulgur Ventures Japan is also looking into establishing a “VIP Villa,” which will be a Japanese-style house and garden where VIPs can enjoy a stay in Tokyo with their families. It would be like a private ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, but with notably more space.
Bringing Bitcoin to life in the physical space seems like a relatively urgent matter to Kawai, who’d very much like to see Japan embrace Bitcoin again.
“Japan used to be the Bitcoin country, but now it’s not,” Kawai said.
“Actually, Japan is among the countries with the least Bitcoin adoption,” he added.
“We want to do our part to make Japan a great Bitcoin nation again.”
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