Meet Ben Humbert of Fukushima Fish

We sat down with Ben Humbert of Fukushima Fish to learn more about him and his NFT project that was recently featured at the JRNY Club NFT Gallery. Fukushima Fish is a high-quality high-resolution project with 3,888 pieces on Ethereum.

Previously a project manager in the pharmaceutical/ life sciences industry, he joined the world of web3 in 2018 and then went full time during the pandemic. The sentiment of being your own bank, resonated deeply with him following all of the bank bailouts. Ben joined the Neo Tokyo community in 2001, and that was where his web3 founder journey began.

He noticed a gap in the NFT market for quality art that empowers holders with unlimited personal and commercial use; empowering holders to own more than just a token, but the entirety of the art. The centerpiece, Koi fish, represent resilience, strength, and championing through adverse conditions. So, they teamed up with Mike Tyson’s graphic design artist, NeoGlyph, to create these high-quality works of art.

Fukushima Fish prior to launch partnered with Takuya, a Tokyo based ceremonial Japanese tea master, to ensure the authenticity of the Mon symbols, cultural correctness, and script used in the art. Many projects don’t allow the user to fully own their NFT image rights, however, Fukushima Fish implements terms stating full royalty free ownership rights for personal and commercial use. Holders could create derivatives, abstract pieces of art, or whatever their imagination could come up with.

“We wanted to open those possibilities to people who wanted to have a secondary revenue stream attached to the IP that they own,” Ben said. Fukushima Fish was recently on display at the popular JRNY Gallery in Las Vegas, as well as another gallery in Germany. 

Additionally, they have partnered with NFT Canvases to produce top-tier gallery-grade canvas prints of Fukushima Fish, featuring embedded NFC chips for added functionality. These chips allow for a certificate of authenticity, where placing your phone near the artwork automatically sends a push notification that will pull up the NFT and who owns it. Their tech has revolutionized the concept of intellectual property ownership from an artistic standpoint. “That kind of pushes that boundary a bit for what you can do,” Ben said. 

Ben also works with Green Candle Consulting, providing guidance on everything from tokenomics to tech, gameplay and beta testing. Their company helps project mold their ideas and avoid common pitfalls found in web3.

With a commitment to empowering users through full ownership rights, creative freedom, and innovative partnerships, Fukushima Fish pioneers a transformative approach to NFT ownership. The project’s symbolic Koi fish, collaborations with artists like NeoGlyph, and ventures into NFC-embedded prints propel it into the forefront of the space, symbolizing a new era where art, authenticity, and technology converge.

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Ben recently was a guest on How I Met Web3 where he goes into all this topics, plus more. Listen below: