読売英字紙THE DAILY YOMIURIに「聖地巡礼」や「ゆるキャラ」の記事
読売英字紙THE DAILY YOMIURIには毎週金曜日に
「POP CULTURE」と名付けられた特集ページがあります。
毎月第1金曜と第3金曜はそれぞれ、読売新聞所属の有名オタク記者、
（汗）こと石田汗太記者と、（福）こと福田淳記者による
オタクコラム「THROUGH OTAKU EYES」が連載されています。
1月の第3金曜である1/18のコラムで（福）さんが取り上げたのは
オタクによる「聖地巡礼」について、でした。
また、その翌週の1/25の紙面には「ひこにゃん」などの
いわゆる「ゆるキャラ」についての記事が掲載されていました。
まず「聖地巡礼」の記事を見てみましょう。
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Otaku follow 'Lucky Star' to shrine
Among the terms to refer to a Japanese otaku's habits is "seichi junrei," which means "pilgrimage to sacred places" in Japanese.
In this case, however, the seichi (sacred places) don't have anything to do with religious destinations, such as Jerusalem or Mecca. Seihi junrei is an exaggerated term that refers to visiting towns or specific places featured in the otaku's favorite anime series.
In a sense, it is nothing new. The phenomenon of people visiting real places featured in fictional works is at least as old as Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts pacing the pavement of London's Baker Street and Audrey Hepburn fans posing for snapshots in front of Rome's Spanish Steps, featured in her film Roman Holiday.
For otaku these days, however, visiting places featured in anime seems not to be an end in itself. In rather seems to be a communication tool in their communities.
Two anime that have become known for inspiring fan "pilgrimages" are Onegai Teacher (2002) and Onegai Twins (2003). In the series, both set around Lake Kizaki in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, existing scenery was re-created on anime cels, from real-life unmanned railroad station to small shops.
In the beginning, fans visited the actual places that were featured in the anime series and took photos of the places or of themselves re-creating scenes from the stories while costumed in their favorite characters' attire.
Their reports of their "pilgrimage" experiences were carried on their Web sites and blogs, creating more and more pilgrims and leading to a boom of similar outings.
Now otaku have an important new seichi -- Washinomiya Shrine in Washimiyamachi, Saitama Prefecture. Two sisters who are characters in the anime Raki Suta (Lucky Star, 2007), serve as miko shrine maidens there.
Partly thanks to its location, which is relatively easily accessible from Tokyo, the number of visitors to the shrine rapidly increased as the anime got popular. In addition to normal ema wooden votive plaques placed at the shrine, you can see distinctive ones decorated with the anime characters.
In December, there was an "official visit" by Kagami Yosimizu, the creator of the original manga on which the anime is based, as well as voice actors from the show, attracting 3,500 fans -- equivalent to one-tenth of the town's population.
Hoping more fans' visits will revitalize the town, the local chamber of commerce launched promotional projects that include producing hand straps for mobile phones featuring the Raki Suta characters.
During this New Year's holidays -- a peak time for traditional shrine visits -- about 300,000 people visited Washinomiya Shrine, more than double last year's figure of 130,000, after the media covered the fans' visit to the shrine. It demonstraded the anime's positive impact on the shrine itself, which is a sacred place in the real sense of the term.
To outside observers, it may appear that otaku are just trying to communicate with each other through the shrine. At the same time, the economic effect brought by the phenomenon may be proof of the increase in the otaku population.
古くはシャーロックホームズの所縁の地、ベーカー街を訪ねるファンの話から始まり、
「おねティ」シリーズ２作の舞台、長野・木崎湖を訪れることから
日本でのオタクによるいわゆる「聖地巡礼」がメジャーになり、
そして今年の冬、「らき☆すた」の舞台の「聖地巡礼」の例として、
埼玉・鷲宮神社での公式ファンイベントの話、そして
新年参賀の数が前年の13万人の倍以上の30万人まで増え、
大賑わいとなっていることにまで触れています。
一方、「ゆるキャラ」の記事。
こちらはウェブ版に記事が掲載されています。
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Hikonyan, the white, catlike cartoon mascot of the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, has won nationwide fame. The character, wearing a red kabuto samurai helmet, has proven a hit among a large number of women with its big, serene face, which is as round as a ball of mochi, a doughy rice cake.
The character was greeted like a popular TV personality, accepting many presents from fans.
'Yuru-kyara' varieties
There are many other characters used to promote localities in the nation.Such mascots are generally called "yuru-kyara," an abbreviation of the Japanese words meaning "loose characters." The term was coined by illustrator Jun Miura.
Commenting on the popularity of various yuru-kyara, Miura said, "I can feel the respective creators' strong love for their home regions. Some characters have too many elements symbolizing the region, making them incomprehensible. But even such characters are interesting in their own way."
ひこにゃんが「全国的な名声を勝ち取り」、「人気ＴＶタレントのように、
ファンから多くのプレゼントをもらった」といった説明や、
このような地方発の緩いキャラクターを総称して、
みうらじゅんによって「ゆるキャラ」と名付けられたことや、
ゆるキャラの中には「その地方の特色を詰め込みすぎて
よく分からなくなったものもいるが、それもそれなりに面白い」
といったみうらじゅんのコメントが紹介されていました。
