Rakuten Gives Away Physical Shiba Inu Coins to Boost Offline Retail Engagement

Rakuten Wallet, Japan's e-commerce giant, is taking its marketing campaign offline by giving away physical Shiba Inu (SHIB) coins to its 44 million users. The move aims to boost retail engagement through hands-on interaction with the cryptocurrency.

The launch of these tangible souvenirs continues Rakuten's use of popular meme tokens in its campaigns, having previously given away digital SHIB and DOGE in a photo contest on X. This offline activity is designed to make cryptocurrency more accessible to Japan's conservative retail audience.

Rakuten has also integrated SHIB into its Rakuten Pay payment system, allowing users to pay with the token at 5 million partner merchant locations across the country. This move intensifies competition with Japanese retail giant Mercari and its crypto division Mercoin, which have also integrated SHIB trading into their platforms.

The increasing use of SHIB in commercial campaigns is largely due to the local regulator's addition of the token to the official 'Green List' of approved assets in November 2025. This has enabled major corporations to rebuild the industry around themselves, turning cheap meme tokens into familiar digital merchandise and loyalty tools.