Sofa Gap Recognized as Independent Nation, Dropped Coins Now Foreign Currency

The "Sofa Gap Territory," expanded by endless remote work sitting, has received UN sovereignty recognition. Resident registration is possible with missing receipts, but the dust storms during exit inspections are reportedly the greatest challenge.

2025-08-06

Translations: JA

Otherworld Pocket

Sofa Gap Recognized as Independent Nation, Dropped Coins Now Foreign Currency

The “Sofa Gap Territory,” expanded by endless remote work sitting, was granted sovereignty recognition on the 9th night at the UN General Assembly with a 190-to-1 vote. While resident registration is possible with missing receipts, the dust storms during exit inspections are considered the greatest challenge.

The Sofa Gap Territory is one of the world’s smallest sovereign states, with an altitude of 0 centimeters and an area of one tissue paper. The territory consists of “Cushion Row 1” and “Backrest Canyon,” with the capital “Fluffy City” dotted with crumb buildings. The current constitution contains only one article: “All who sit sink equally,” and the parliament remains in permanent recess, trapped under the remote control.

The financial cornerstone is the “fallen currency” - dropped coins, with cumulative foreign reserves totaling approximately 972 yen. Despite this, it comprises 90% of the national budget, with the Dust Treasury boasting that “the 500-yen coin is effectively the gold standard.” However, under foreign exchange laws, it’s treated as foreign currency, and when exchanging with the living room, a 3% “sneeze tax” applies, so residents adopt a strategy of holding coins and waiting for inflation and dust.

Territorial expansion was brought about by the “permanent work-from-home” since the pandemic. As humanity’s buttocks maintained long-term occupation of sofas, gaps have been subsiding and expanding at an annual rate of 5%. The UN evaluated this as “anthropogenic geography comparable to tectonic shifts” and finally recognized independence. Only the “Vacuum Cleaner Alliance” cast opposing votes, but failed to make an impact as their power cords were too short to reach during the speech, forcing abstention.

The international community acted swiftly. The IMF stated it would “consider loans in cookie crumbs rather than coins.” The EU hinted that “if the Gap Territory eventually swallows the entire living room, membership could be considered.” Meanwhile, the domestic central government (mother) maintains a hardline stance of “annexation during weekend cleaning,” already creating tension in remote control diplomacy.

Entry and exit procedures also have unique characteristics. The immigration officer is a single lost earphone, with the screening criterion being a memory test: “When were you last cleaned?” Fail, and one sneeze means forced deportation. Travelers must also adjust for time differences according to seat cushion movement (maximum 0.3 seconds), prompting the Foreign Ministry to comment on “the birth of a new definition of jet lag.”

The diplomatic challenge is passport durability. Paper money disintegrates immediately from moisture, while plastic cards reflect in the depths with high loss rates. The government announced “next-generation passports will be made of duct tape with self-adhesive properties,” advocating a new order based on adhesive-ism, but human rights groups (Stuffed Animal Association) criticize the “pain of removal as torture.”

However, citizens are more concerned with survival strategies of “when will we be retrieved” than diplomacy. Resident representative Mr. Receipt (shoulder width 3 centimeters) laments that “the consumption tax calculation column has already become garbled,” while expressing hope for agricultural development, saying “the territory is becoming fertile with dust.” The endless sit-in continues its quiet independence in the depths today.

Stakeholder Comments

Sofa Gap Territory Interim President (10-yen coin): “Heads means tax increase, tails also means tax increase. The destiny of currency is to keep shining either way”
Domestic Central Government (Mother): “I’ll dispatch the head of state (vacuum cleaner) this weekend. It will be not just bloodless but soundless annexation”
UN Membership Approval Officer: “There were crumbs stuck in the documents and we couldn’t read them, but it’s small so we unanimously approved it”
Vacuum Cleaner Alliance Secretary-General: “If only we had an extension cord, the international situation would have been different. Cord is power”
IMF Representative: “Exchange rate? Whether you can retrieve it from the sofa is the market”
EU Expansion Negotiator: “We’re watching the territory expand along with sciatica”
Single Earphone (Immigration Officer): “I’ve lost contact with my partner, but the noise resonating here is a state secret”
Mr. Receipt (Resident Registration No. 1): “Even if the print fades, sovereignty doesn’t fade”
Mr. Cushion: “I am the buffer zone. Absorbing seat pressure to maintain eternal neutrality”
Dust Particle Community: “We are the true majority. As long as we’re not vacuumed, we monopolize the seats”