Hyogo: Local realistic Kappa character has been promoting town for 10 years; creepy curiosity attracts people

FUKUSAKI, Hyogo — The city government in Hyogo Prefecture has been using a kappa — a water people creature — called Gajiro to promote the city for 10 years.

Fukusaki is the birthplace of Kunio Yanagita, a scholar who has been called the father of Japanese folklore studies. The city produced objects that follow the motif of “yokai” — imaginary creatures — from folklore stories recorded in Yanagita’s books, and since 2014 they have been displayed in various places around the city.

Many local governments in Japan have adopted cute mascot characters, but in the case of the city’s characters, it seems that people’s attention is drawn by their extremely realistic appearances. More than 700,000 tourists visited the city last fiscal year, driven in part by their creepy curiosity.

Kappa character Gajiro has a flaming red body, a large slit-like mouth, and a white plate-like part on top of his head. Despite his grotesque appearance, his popularity has increased dramatically.

The character has been involved in various activities in the city, including taking on the symbolic role of police chief for a day. In order to further increase Gajiro’s popularity and make the character famous nationwide, the city government even wants to form a comedy duo consisting of Gajiro and an employee of the office and have them compete in the M-1 Grand Prix, the championship of manzai comedy performances in Japan.