As the epidemic situation in COVID-19 has not subsided, more and more Japanese food and catering enterprises are seeking crowdfunding to support their operations and start new businesses. On the 24th, the Japan Broadcasting Association quoted the data of the Japan Crowdfunding Association as saying that in the first half of last year, the Japanese food and catering industry raised 22.3 billion yen by giving gifts to supporters and other reward crowdfunding methods, which was about three times that of the same period of the previous year, reaching a record high, and has continued to grow since then. What are the characteristics of crowdfunding in Japan?

1. The implementation of the financial capital market legal system such as Japan's Financial and Commercial Law has withstood the tsunami impact of the world financial crisis, but it has actually caused obstacles in the financing of new ventures

For example, what we usually call investment crowdfunding is covered by the Financial and Commercial Law in Japan? The issuance of securities? In the concept, investment crowdfunding fundraisers need to have? Financial commodity traders? The qualification, the recruitment process needs experts to help with tedious information production, etc. These norms limit the development of investment crowdfunding, leading to the fact that most crowdfunding forms in Japan are gift-based and consumer-oriented.

Second, the purpose of crowdfunding is no longer limited to obtaining regular working capital

The operator of crowdfunding platform said that the purpose of crowdfunding is no longer limited to obtaining regular working capital, but expanded to invest in new businesses to cope with the long-term impact of the epidemic. Some restaurants use crowdfunding income to conduct online business, while some event planning companies use crowdfunding income to provide online services.

Third, the Japanese government's policy of supporting the transfer of local tax sources is essentially to enliven the local economy through crowdfunding.

The so-called transfer of local tax sources means that a person can freely choose one or more places to sponsor or order local goods through the Internet, and the amount of payment is returned from the local tax bureau through the annual personal declaration. In addition to the usual gifts and pre-orders, there are also special cases of stock crowdfunding to activate the local economy.

Fourth, crowdfunding in Japan is still centered on non-monetary return financing.

From the perspective of capital contribution form, it mostly centers on anonymous partnership contracts in Japanese commercial law, such as semi-donation and semi-investment in support of the Great East Japan Earthquake? Disaster relief fund? , small investment platform, loan crowdfunding, etc., and examples of real equity crowdfunding are rare.

5. The few examples of real equity crowdfunding are also related to Japanese legal provisions

In the case of equity crowdfunding, both fundraisers and intermediary companies are subject to the regulation of Japan's Financial Commodity Exchange Law, especially for crowdfunding platform operators, while the donation type and purchase type are basically unrestricted. Although in practice, the Japanese investment crowdfunding market is not very active so far, on the contrary, the relevant market in China, which has not issued any legal norms on investment crowdfunding, is very active.