About 100 groups of Seiyu are tourism ambassadors! What souvenirs and sightseeing spots all over Japan do voice actors recommend?
More and more voice actors are being appointed as tourism ambassadors. As far as we have been able to ascertain, there are about 100 cases of voice actors being appointed as tourism ambassadors, including both individuals and groups. Although we cannot introduce all of them here, let us take a look at some of them!
| Table of Contents 1.Appointment of local voice actors. 2.Appointment of voice actors with local connections. 3.Appointment of character tourism ambassadors and voice actors. 4.Appointment of content groups. 5.Municipalities that are active in appointing voice actors as tourism ambassadors. 6.Voice actors from prefectures that may not have a single voice actor tourism ambassador. 7.Benefits of voice-over tourism ambassadors. |
1.Appointment of local voice actors
■ Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture Tourism Ambassador
Yuki Takada / Yuki Kaneko / Kaori Maeda
When Yuki Kaneko and Kaori Maeda, voice actors from Kitakyushu City, were appointed as Tourism Ambassadors, the commissioning ceremony was held at the “Kitakyushu Pop Culture Festival2022”. Yuki Takada, who has been appointed as a tourism ambassador since 2017, also participated in this event.
At the event, both voice actors shared their enthusiasm as tourism ambassadors and were also appointed as one-day lord of Kokura Castle. The stage event included a commissioning ceremony for the one-day lord of the castle and the unveiling of a handwritten scroll, which attracted a large number of fans. A live announcement was also made inside Kokura Castle, providing an opportunity to deepen exchanges with fans.
Kitakyushu Pop Culture Festival 2024″ will be held on November 30 (Sat) and December 1 (Sun). This event will feature many voice actors as well as these three.
In addition, Kaori Maeda is promoting Kitakyushu City as a tourism ambassador on her agency’s channel.
Incidentally, Sukesan Udon, which she is being introduced, is on the verge of entering the Kanto region!
■Hokkaido Chitose CityTourism PR Ambassador
Aina Suzuki
Ms. Suzuki was appointed as Chitose City Tourism PR Ambassador at the inauguration ceremony held on November 3, 2022 (national holiday).
She also served as Station Manager for a day at “Salmon Park Chitose,” a roadside station, on November 30, 2023, and attracted much attention when she announced at an animation presentation event at Chitose Aquarium that she is actually sisters with voice actress Mika Hanai.
Ms. Suzuki also narrates the audio guide for the “Chitose Aquarium, Home of the Salmon.
With this information alone, it is easy to see that salmon is a specialty of the Chitose!
■Aomori City Tourism Ambassador
Shiori Mikami
Popular voice actress Shiori Mikami, known for her role as Krista Lenz in the anime “Attack on Titan – Shingeki No Kyojin -“, is the tourism ambassador for Aomori City. She also appears on the official Aomori City channel.
Orrin Jonagold, a young sorcerer with an overpowering Tsugaru accent, and Regina Miles, a new healer with the skill [Interpreter], form a party of only two in the fantasy comic “Jyoppare Aomori no hoshi: A guild banished sorceress aims to be the strongest with her cheat Tsugaru dialect (no chanting)! Mikami-san has made a comment of recommendation on the occasion of the release of the book.
As seen in these examples, voice actors who publicize their hometowns and are appointed as tourism ambassadors are likely to have more opportunities to be featured in content and products related to their region!
2.Appointing voice actors with a connection to the area
In some cases, voice actors who are not from the area but have a connection to the area are appointed as tourism ambassadors.
