The Japan Tourism Agency officially decided to support the "Onsen Musume Project," a cross media project to revitalize the local community!

The "Onsen Musume Project" is a regional revitalization cross-media project that uses anime, manga, music, and other character content to enliven hot spring resorts and regional cities throughout Japan. This project was planned by a representative from Fukushima Prefecture in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Various initiatives have been launched since March 2017 to revitalize hot spring resorts and regional cities across Japan, as well as the Tohoku region, where tourism has declined.

The main activities are idol activities in which characters based on motifs of hot springs throughout Japan and voice actors provide "smiles and healing" to people through singing and dancing in order to enliven hot spring resorts throughout Japan. Starting with music, the group will hold events at hot spring resorts across the country, with the goal of making this into a game and an anime. Akiba Research Institute has reported on the activities of this project from time to time, so many of you are probably familiar with it.

The "Onsen Musume Project" has received official support from the Japan Tourism Agency in recognition of the events it has held in local cities and its activities to promote awareness of hot spring resorts.

According to the "Onsen Musume Project," the most important thing for the revitalization of a local area is to "first gain recognition" and "actually have people visit the area. To this end, Onsen Musume has formed partnerships with various local governments and companies, and over the past two years has held events in more than 20 locations in 13 prefectures outside of Tokyo in an effort to expand "awareness and visitation. This year, events in Atami Onsen (Shizuoka Prefecture) and Iizaka Onsen (Fukushima Prefecture) have already been scheduled.

While continuing to promote "awareness and visitation" of local cities, the project will continue to work with the Japan Tourism Agency, local governments, and various hot spring resorts to realize "entertainment x inbound," which is the origin of the company name of one of the project management companies, ENVOUND, Inc. The Japan Tourism Agency, local governments, and hot spring resorts will work together to promote "ONSEN," one of Japan's world-class cultural assets, to the world.

Japan Tourism Agency
#Onsen Musume Official Website

Onsen Musume official website
# Onsen Musume Official Twitter

Onsen Musume Official Twitter
# Onsen musume official Twitter

(C)Onsen Musume/Enbound, Inc.