Shuri Castle fire: Crowdfunding campaign raises millions
A screenshot of the Furusato Choice crowdfunding website, set up by the city of Naha. Donations will be used to rebuild Shuri Castle, which was destroyed in a recent fire. The campaign has raised over 200 million yen as of 1:13 p.m., November 4
November 4, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Following the Shuri Castle fire, the city of Naha set up a bilingual crowdfunding webpage—the Furusato Choice, which piggybacks on the nation-wide Hometown Tax Donation Program system.
The campaign has already collected over 200 million yen as of November 4, 1:13 p.m. The project met its goal of 100 million yen before 6 p.m. on November 3., but the donation further doubled in the following 19 hours.
The network of support continues to expand, as donations pour in with increasing momentum, in even greater amounts.
A representative for TRUSTBANK, Inc., which manages Furusato Choice, said: “The fund is growing at a very fast pace.
The contribution amount is increasing in million yen-increments every five minutes, which is astonishing.”
The cash amount per contribution has been generous, but the number of contributors is impressive as well, at around 14,000. Donations are coming in from all over Japan and from overseas.
The crowdfunding effort began at 2 p.m. on November 1, the day after the Shuri Castle fire.
It had met its goal on day three of the project, before 6 p.m. on November 3. An additional 100 million yen was donated in the next 19 hours, evidencing high levels of public interest.
As of 1:13 p.m., November 4, the project has raised 200,137,867 yen, thanks to its 14,082 contributors. Furusato Choice will continue to accept donations through March 31, 2020.
Click on the link below to donate today (English page):
https://www.furusato-tax.jp/gcf/717#2019_naha
*Update: As of November 7, more than 29,000 contributors have donated over 408 million yen to Furusato Choice.
(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)
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