Mitsui issues Japan’s first land-backed digital security

Mitsui & Co. Digital Asset Management has issued Japan’s first digital security backed solely by land rights, tokenizing the 50-year leasehold beneath AEON Omiya, a shopping complex in Saitama City. The underlying land is valued at about ¥8.6 billion (roughly $55.6 million). The tokens were issued on the ALTERNA platform.

The tokens were created on ALTERNA’s permissioned blockchain, ibet for Fin, a private ledger designed for regulated financial instruments in Japan. Legally, the instrument is structured as a beneficiary securities issuance trust and is offered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, placing it inside existing securities law.

Investors acquire the ground-lease interest rather than ownership of the building or rights to rental income. The ground lease is a fixed 50-year term running through June 2076, so token holders have land-use rights under the retail complex for that period. The structure excludes tenant and building maintenance exposure and leaves holders exposed to uncertainty over lease renewal and terminal value when the lease ends.

The minimum investment is ¥100,000 (about $647). The offering carries an expected pre-tax annual yield of 3.4%. Holders of at least 10 units receive 500 WAON loyalty points per year; WAON is AEON’s prepaid reward network used across the group’s stores and malls.

The 3.4% pre-tax yield is higher than yields on many government bonds; Japan’s 10-year government bond yield has been in the low single digits. The lease’s expiration in June 2076 means long-term outcomes depend on future renewal terms, which have not been determined.

The use of a permissioned blockchain and a beneficiary trust places the issuance within Japan’s regulatory framework for securities. The offering isolates leasehold rights and provides retail investors access to a land-backed security on a regulated platform.