1. Title
Road to Doge Day 2024 by Tony R. Vega
2. Catchline
A walk across Japan to raise awareness of the visually impaired, showcase the wonder of Japan, and celebrate the legacy of Doge!
3. Elevator Pitch
I will walk over 250 miles across Japan (Kyoto to Miyajima, Hiroshima). I am legally blind so this journey will be challenging. However, I will document it all via posts on social media and YouTube videos. The entire trip will culminate with me attending Doge Day 2024 in Sakura, Chiba. I will also document this and produce a video for my non web 3.0 audience on YouTube.
The goal is to raise awareness of the blind and visually impaired, showcase Japan, and celebrate the legacy of Doge by documenting the journey in real time and edited videos for YouTube.
4. Grant Amount Requested
Total: $500.69
All will be spent on lodging and daily expenses throughout the month-long trip.
Non-monetary request
Entry to Doge Day VIP event for me and camera person.
5. KPI
There will be three man indicators that will be used to determine the impact of the campaign.
1. Impressions on X
1. I expect posts (photos & videos) posted during the walk to get anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of impressions each. This was the case during my walk last year. With the help of Own the Doge I believe I can outperform my posts last year.
2. Video Views on YouTube
1. Videos will be produced after the walk is complete. I expect videos to get anywhere from 100 to thousands of views. This will vary quite a bit depending on the subject matter of each specific video.
3. On the Ground Promotion
1. I will be interacting with strangers throughout the walk. This includes people on the street who help me when I get lost and people in shops and restaurants who strike up conversation with me. As such there will be many opportunities to talk to people about the walk, Doge, the Kabosu statue, and International Doge Day.
6. Meet the Team
• Tony R. Vega
I am a legally blind content creator specializing in Japan and web 3. I began the news blog JapanKyo in 2016. There I cover all things Japan via articles, podcasts and YouTube videos. I have had numerous viral articles and been cited by major news outlets such as VICE News, Newsweek, Soranews24, The Sun and more. I produce multiple podcasts, including my main show Japan Station. And I run the JapanKyo YouTube channel. In web 3.0 I am particularly well known within the Japanese crypto and NFT niche. I produce content in both English and Japanese. I also run a Japanese-language YouTube channel/podcast focused on web 3.0. In the past I have worked as an editor in chief for a Japan-focused magazine in Hawaii and lived multiple years in Japan. My point is that I am an experienced content creator, storyteller and an expert on all things Japan.
Furthermore, last year I did a long-distance walk from Kyoto to Tokyo along the historic Tokaido Road. I documented it in real time via my X account and I produced an 11-part video series for the JapanKyo YouTube channel. The experience of producing last year’s video series was invaluable and will absolutely result in an even better series of videos this year.
7. What brought you to Doge? What does she mean to you?
I’ve been keeping an eye on all things Japan—including internet trends—for over 20 years. Although I don’t remember when I first came across Kabosu, I’m confident it was pretty early on since I remember Japanese news sites covering her. However, it wasn’t until a bit over a year ago when I began to take a deeper interest in Kabosu and Own the Doge. In 2023 members of Own the Doge were guests on the United Neko Alliance space. There I learned about all the amazing things OTD was doing. I was blown away. Shortly after the first International Doge Day I interviewed Smoke and John Monarch for an episode of my podcast Japan Station. Through that interview I learned about all the hard work it took to make the Kabosu statue a reality. It really is amazing to see the power of web 3 being leveraged to stimulate a local economy in Japan by giving them a new landmark. I absolutely love this story. I love what Kabosu represents. I love how Atsuko Sato has helped so many through her donations. And I love the “Do Only Good Everyday” philosophy. Ultimately, that is what Doge means to me: doing good and inspiring others to do good as well. So it would be an honor to get to work with OTD to spread the legacy of Kabosu and help more people learn about her statue.
8. Plan
• Brief Explanation
I will be walking over 250 miles across Japan. This is what I call the Miyajima Challenge. I will document the journey for both social media (X) and YouTube. I am legally blind so I cannot see street signs, normal sized text or people’s faces at normal distances. To navigate I use my white cane, Google Maps and help from strangers.
This will culminate with me attending Doge Day 2024. This will also be documented for social media and YouTube. My English-language YoutTube channel is not web 3.0-focused. The JapanKyo YouTube channel is aimed at those interested in Japan…
• Goals
My goals are:
1. To raise awareness of the blind and visually impaired community in a fun and engaging way.
2. To inspire people by showing what someone with a visual impairment is capable of.
3. To help and educate people with an interest in Japan via the content I produce.
4. To shine a spotlight on my sponsors. In the case of Own the Doge, I want to spread the word about Kabosu, her statue, Doge Day and the positive things Own the Doge does.
• Routes & Distance of the Walk
Miyajima Challenge
1. Course: Kyoto to Miyajima Island
1. The starting point of this course will be the bridge at Sanjo in the ancient capital city of Japan, Kyoto. The endpoint will be the famous torii gate at Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
2. Distance: 248 miles/400 km
1. Due to getting lost and taking detours the total distance traveled will be more.
• What do sponsors get?
1. All sponsors will be mentioned as such in marketing material (posts, podcasts, articles).
2. There will be a sponsor read/card in all of the YouTube videos produced for the Miyajima Challenge.
• Timeline
The walk (Miyajima Challenge) will begin on 10/02/24. My goal is to complete it by 10/27/2024. I will attend Doge Day 2024 on 11/02/24.
Posts intended for X will be made during the trip. Work on YouTube videos will begin after the trip is over and I have returned home to the United States. It will likely take a few weeks before I can start releasing Miyajima Challenge videos to YouTube.
• Built on Experience & Success
I did a similar long-distance walk in the fall of 2023. I called it the Tokaido Challenge. It was a roughly 300 mile/500 km walk. I documented it on X and on YouTube. In total I am sure I got well over 100,000 impressions and a lot of positive feedback/comments. I met many people in person along the way both followers and complete strangers. It was a huge success which taught me a great deal. The reaction was extremely positive so that motivated me to continue the journey and build on what I began. With Own the Doge’s help I’m sure I can take this to the next level.
• Why is it Dogely?
My ultimate goal is to educate and inspire. I want to show what someone with a visual impairment is capable of. I want to show that those with visual impairments face many challenges but even though we may have to do things a bit differently we find ways to overcome said challenges. I want to inspire others to challenge themselves regardless of their eyesight. I want people to realize that if they take things one step at a time, they are capable of achieving incredible things. I think this is very much in line with the “Do Only Good Everyday” philosophy. Further, Kabosu is an inspiration to us all and I want to help spread her story. I also want to use my platform to get more people outside of web 3 to learn about the Kabosu statue. Given my unique position as a content creator specializing in Japan, I am confident I can help do that.
9. Finances
Total: $500.69
All will be spent on lodging and daily expenses throughout the month-long trip.
Non-monetary request
Entry to Doge Day VIP event for me and camera person.
There will be no revenue produced. There is no financial risk.
10. Timeline
This is an estimated timeline. All dates are in 2024.
Date
Event
October 2nd - 26th (Estimate)
Start of Miyajima Challenge walk
November 2nd
Attending Doge Day Event
November 3rd
Depart Japan, Return to Hawaii
November into first half of December 2024
Will start releasing YouTube videos of the walks
11. Contact Info
Twitter/X: @thevegatony
Discord: tonydotvega
Email: japankyonews@gmail.com
12. Links
Here is a list of links to many of the things mentioned in this proposal.