Japanese media outlet NoBorder recently launched the SANAE Token on Solana, positioning it as part of the "Japan is Back" project, aiming to explore new models of democracy through Web3 and artificial intelligence. However, Sanae Takaichi herself has publicly stated that she was "completely unaware" of the token, raising concerns and controversy regarding its political implications. The token price subsequently plummeted, halving in value within two hours.
From Abe to Kaohsiung, the political narrative of "Japan is Back"
"Japan is Back" was first proposed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013. It symbolizes Japan's national strategic vision of emerging from economic stagnation and regaining its international influence. Its core includes economic reform, defense strengthening, and active diplomacy.
In October 2025, Sanae Takaichi was elected as Japan's first female prime minister and is seen as a successor to Abe's policies. During her campaign, she revived the slogan "Japan is Back," advocating for increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP, strengthening the national security system, and promoting reforms to intelligence and counter-espionage systems, in an attempt to reshape Japan's strategic position.
Mainstream Media's Transition to Web3: An Experiment with NoBorder DAO
NoBorder is an influential media platform in Japan that focuses on political, economic, and social issues. Its YouTube channel boasts nearly 600,000 subscribers and is led by entrepreneur Yuji Mizoguchi. Starting in 2026, NoBorder transitioned from a mere reporter to a participant, establishing the NoBorder DAO to explore social experiments using blockchain and AI.
NoBorder announced the issuance of the SANAE Token, which will be used as an incentive tool for the "Japan is Back" project. Some program content had hinted at communication with the Takaichi camp, but Takaichi Sanae clearly stated on X on March 2, 2026: "I was completely unaware of it," severing ties.
Core Mechanism: Broadlistening Inspired by Audrey Tang
The NoBorder DAO project collects public opinion through an app and incorporates the concept of broad listening. The official website states that this approach is explicitly inspired by the citizen technology experiments of former Taiwan Minister of Data and Information Technology Audrey Tang, such as the Pol.is model.
- Clustering and visualizing large amounts of opinions using AI
- Find consensus rather than amplify conflict.
- Make policymakers understand the "most acceptable intermediate solution".
- The goal is to transform the compiled results into a "voice of the people" to provide reference for government decision-making.
However, such mechanisms face a practical problem: without incentives, participants tend to concentrate on specific groups, making it difficult to represent the overall population structure. To address this participation bias issue, the community proposed introducing token incentives. This ultimately led to the core operating model of the SANAE Token:
- Users can submit feedback or participate in discussions on the NoBorder App.
- The system analyzes and organizes data through Broadlistening.
- SANAE Tokens are distributed as rewards based on "contribution level".
However, the fact that the operators hold approximately 65% of the token economics has raised concerns in the market about the potential "rug pull" risk.
This article denies any connection between Kaohsiung Sanae and the Japanese media outlet NoBorder, which claims its cryptocurrency was inspired by Audrey Tang's digital democracy mechanism . This article first appeared on ABMedia, a ABMedia .
