Otaku tourism saves small town

A news report from ATV about the small town of Ugo in Akita Prefecture, which has undergone a tourism boom after giving its local products a Moe makeover:

Like many rural towns in Japan, Ugo’s population is in decline. There are few career opportunities in Ugo, so most young people leave the area in search of work when they reach adulthood. In the past ten years, Ugo’s population has dropped by ten percent, leaving the town with just 18,000 residents.

Things looked bad for Ugo, but the situation seems to be getting better thanks to a clever idea hatched by a local otaku named Takaori Yamauchi. Manga illustrators were hired to design labels that gave Ugo’s agricultural products a unique moe image. Local farmers had previously struggled to sale their rice crop, but after placing their rice in bags with bishojo illustrations, sales increased astronomically (36 tons were sold in just the first month, compared to the usual annual sale of 18 tons). Ujo has also started selling packs of moe curry, moe strawberries, and even “moe shochu. The sale of such products over the internet has drawn male otaku visitors from across the country, and local shops have started selling moe-themed Ugo posters and t-shirts.

At the end of the report, ATV checks on the tourist who was shown buying a bag of rice earlier in the segment. It seems the man isn’t yet planning to eat the rice, and prefers to put it on display alongside his many anime figurines. He says the lovely bag of rice is like a wife to him.

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