The Bank of Japan (BoJ) released a short statement about the commencement of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) experiments, in which it said that Phase 1 of its experiments on digital currency issuance is starting today. 

"In PoC Phase 1, the Bank plans to develop a test environment for the CBDC system and conduct experiments on the basic functions that are core to CBDC as a payment instrument such as issuance, distribution, and redemption," the BoJ said. "This phase will be carried out through March 2022, for a duration of one year."