Hyogo: Local Realistic Kappa Character Promoting Town for 10 Years; Ghoulish Curiosity Attracts People

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:01 JST, September 14, 2024

FUKUSAKI, Hyogo — The town government in Hyogo Prefecture has been using a kappa — an aquatic folklore creature — named Gajiro to promote the town for 10 years.

Fukusaki is the hometown of Kunio Yanagita, a scholar dubbed the father of Japan’s folklore studies. The municipality produced objects that follow the motif of “yokai” — imaginary creatures — from folklore tales recorded in Yanagita’s books, and since 2014, has put them on display in a variety of places in the town.

Many local governments across Japan have adopted cute mascot characters, but in the case of the town’s ones, people’s attention seems to be attracted by the extremely realistic appearances. Over 700,000 tourists visited the small town last fiscal year, partly driven by their ghoulish curiosity.

Kappa character Gajiro has a blazing red body, a large slit-like mouth and a white plate-like part atop its head. Despite his grotesque looks, his popularity has soared.

The character has been involved in various activities in the town, including taking on the symbolic role of police chief for a day. To further raise the popularity of Gajiro and to make the character famous nationwide, the town government even wants to form a comedy duo comprising Gajiro and an employee from its office and have them compete in the M-1 Grand Prix, the championship of manzai comedy performances in Japan.