**Outstanding V-tuber Saitama tourism ambassador Tsukushi Kasukabe**
Local governments have begun using “virtual YouTubers” (VTubers) to promote local attractions such as tourist spots and local specialties. Although the purpose is to acquire the younger generation, there are now V-tubers that are gaining popularity like real celebrities. Virtual characters are gradually making their way into the real world, becoming a “normal sight.”
“My name is Tsukushi Kasukabe, virtual tourism ambassador!” A beautiful girl character who seems to have stepped out of an anime moves, talks, and laughs in the real world. This girl is a V-tuber appointed by Saitama Prefecture through public recruitment last year. Light tone and smooth movements. Even if she sees her moving in the live-action video, she doesn’t feel strange.
The first person is “ashi” and the ending is “desuwa”. The secret to her popularity is that she is a little bit of a young lady, such as accidentally biting her lines. She will appear in videos that visit tourist spots in the prefecture and on shopping programs for prefectural products. She’s not real, but she’s a real ‘tourism ambassador’.
Last month, I tried bungee jumping in Chichibu City. A video of him jumping from a height of 50 meters in a canyon has been viewed more than 20,000 times. The highlight is the image of the “Glance Camera”, and screams of “Gyaaaaaaa sorry” “I didn’t make a voice like that even on a roller coaster. I was surprised myself when I fell.” Of course, before jumping off, I was fired up, saying, “Saitama is the best!”
It was in 2018 that he started V-tuber activities as “Kasukabe Tsukushi”. â??I thought Saitama was the theme that I could talk about endlessly, so I started promoting Saitama without permission.â? Then, last year, when I learned that Saitama Prefecture was recruiting V-Tuber tourism ambassadors, I was inspired to think, “Ah, that’s the only way!” At the same time as winning the examination and being officially recognized, he refrained from wearing revealing clothes, “so that even the elderly would think that he was doing well.”
Since Saitama Prefecture is promoting anime tourism, they are expanding their activities one after another, such as holding events in a three-dimensional virtual space called Metaverse in cooperation with the prefecture. In parallel with “public affairs”, I will continue my activities as an individual centered on distribution. “Above all else, Saitama’s appeal is that it’s easy to live in. Our number one goal is to get viewers to move here.”
In 2018, Ibaraki Prefecture was the first in Japan to start a local government-authorized V-tuber. “V-tubers are popular among young people, so I thought it would be better if the prefecture made one,” said the person in charge, and created a beautiful girl character named “Ibara Hiyori.” On a video site called “Iba Kira TV,” which is run by the prefecture, she introduces famous cherry blossom spots in the prefecture while singing and answers quizzes on difficult-to-read place names, conveying the appeal of Ibaraki. The person in charge said proudly, “Because it was the first of its kind in Japan, it was picked up by many media outlets. In terms of advertising fees, this is a saving of 760 million yen in advertising costs.”
There are many so-called “local V-tubers” who promote their hometowns in various places, but there are female characters full of erotic elements, and characters with monotonous movements, and the skills and quality are mixed. The road to becoming popular is not easy. “Yuru-chara”, which are responsible for regional PR, have spread to local governments nationwide, but what will happen to V-tubers?
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/205084