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Unless “gangly illustrated apes” is a far more popular artistic genre than anyone had realized, a lot of NFTs are marketed more for their purported investment value than their aesthetics. But Shibuya-based tourism marketing company Enbound thinks there’s a place in the market for NFTs that are prized both for their rarity and their visual appeal, which brings us to their OG project.
That OG doesn’t mean “old girl” (the term used in Japan for a female alumnus), nor is meant to be “original gangster.” Instead, Enbound’s OG stands for “Onsen Gravure.”
The two-fold aim of the project is to attract NFT investors/collectors while also attracting people to onsen (hot spring) towns and hotels in Japan. Each installment in the series will pair a gravure model with a specific hot spring property for a photo shoot, with the pictures serving as the basis for that batch of NFTs. The first set (photo at top) features model Miyako Sono at Kokuya, a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Ikaho, a hot spring town in Gunma Prefecture.
Enbound says the Sono/Kokuya NFT series consists of 17 photos, with five iterations of each being made into NFTs. “A total of 70” says the press release, in what seems like some shaky math, but it also promises “each shot is an NFT with only five in existence in the world,” so maybe they meant to say “a total of 85.”
▼ In a separate non-Onsen Gravure photo shoot, Sono shows that she also appreciates a good sauna session.
Enbound hasn’t said how many models/locations will be involved in the Onsen Gravure project, but it’s also the company that created the Onsen Musume promotion, with illustrated anime spokesgirls who serve as semi-anthropomorphized versions of actual hot springs, which has nearly 100 characters. For now, though, the Miyako Sono/Kokuya NFT series is being offered through OpenSea, with a crypto currency-listed price that Enbound says currently converts to around 12,000 yen each, and can be seen, for free, here.
Source, images: PR Times
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- The top five best multiple-hot-spring hotels in all of Japan
-- Low-cost Japanese inn welcomes foreign guests with hot springs, sake tastings, cosplay backdrops
-- 18 awesome overnight hot spring trips from Tokyo, and a quiz to help pick the best one for you
© SoraNews24
12 Comments
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CrashTestDummy
Will the models be there when you visit the onsen or hot springs? Nope. I was expecting to see models in the Green car of the Shinkansen. None at all. Lol.
TokyoLiving
I'm just here for the girl...
I know it's pathetic..
LOOOOOL !!
Garthgoyle
What if I just take a screenshot of the photo I want and there. I already have the photo I wanted.
Now, if they were to also send me a printed photo like in a canvas or something physical I can display. That with the NFT code would make a better business model.
But that's just my opinion; someone who will never understand why would ANYONE ever spend big figures just for a code of a photo that no one else will ever see nor read.
Alex
I guess they aren't looking to attract heterosexual female investors or visitors. -eyeroll- What year are we in?
WA4TKG
Onsen will be a thing of the past, if things don’t change
kohakuebisu
Classic "Gravure" is as much cleavage as possible without showing nipples. Tiny bikinis and nude in the bath with arms folded etc. The preference is for buxom ladies. The odd model crosses over to become a talento and appear in dorama, like Yuka or Kyoko Fukada, but not that many.
The blue costume in the story looks very tame for gravure. The NFT photos will have to be racier to get folks bidding big on them.
didou
What does mean NFT ?
It is not explained in the article
Speed
I clicked on this article just for the anticipated pictures.
WA4TKG
Nobody is going to invest in a business that relies so heavily on tourism when the country has been closed to said patrons for over two years…and don’t tell me the locals will keep them afloat. It doesn’t wash any more. How long were onsen closed when this mess began?
Paustovsky
Can one make a NFT of a 1950's mentality ?
descendent
A fool and his money are soon parted.