Japanese Ferry Companies Try to Overcome Predicament By Moe Characters

by dtshyk
Feb 17, 2011 6:19 AM | 49 Comments

Japanese Ferry Companies Try to Overcome the Predicament By Moe Characters

According to Asahi Shinbun, two ferry companies decided to use moe characters for PR. Nankai Ferry and Kokudo Ferry have been suffering from a steep drop of passengers due to the government-directed discount of the highway tolls since March 2009. Nankai Ferry and the prefectural governments of Tokushima and Wakayama held a conference and decided to use shoujo characters for PR. Nankai Ferry launched a character campaign in January and is distributing character goods to the passengers.

Two PR characters of Nankai Ferry

In Kokudo Ferry's case, an adult mangaka Yamato Akira heard of the financial crisis the local ferry and donated his original characters . Kokudo Ferry immediately adopted his proposal and started to sell stickers and T-shirts of the characters.

Utaka Sisters of Kokudo Ferry
Yamato Akira's website

Both of the companies anticipate that young people will be interested in the ferry travel by the characters.

Source: Asahi Shinbun

20 of 49 Comments Recent Comments

Kokudo Ferry is doing it better.

Feb 20, 2011 3:33 PM by Monad

herox3 said:

fri said:
They should have used Aria characters. I wouldn't mind traveling through the sea with Akari and Alice accompanying me.

This.
I'm sure they will get more business if the characters already have a fanbase.

This^2
First thing I thought of when reading the article is "Why not ask for permission to use the Aria characters?"

Feb 19, 2011 5:03 PM by bookkid900

They should have used Kotonoha from School Days as a mascot.

Feb 19, 2011 3:31 AM by Dark_Pride

alchemist11 said:

dtshyk said:
Both of the companies anticipate that young people will be interested in the ferry travel by the characters.

Perfect Timing! (not)

Latest Headline: "Vietnamese tourist boat sinking kills 12" - "Tourists from the U.S., Britain, Australia, Japan, Russia, France, Sweden and Switzerland among dead"

Oh gosh. o_o

Feb 18, 2011 9:14 PM by Megpoid

Hoppy said:

OrochiPL said:
I await doujins with Utaka sisters, especially Karen. : D

I want a doujin with just the 3 sisters, imagine the hot triplet yuri incest action.

It's not like i said i want someone other in it too, you know. I like Karen's design the most.

Feb 18, 2011 8:43 AM by OrochiPL

OrochiPL said:
I await doujins with Utaka sisters, especially Karen. : D

I want a doujin with just the 3 sisters, imagine the hot triplet yuri incest action.

Feb 18, 2011 8:15 AM by Hoppy

Well this is interesting, hopefully they attract more ferry-goers.

Feb 18, 2011 7:51 AM by chocolaetmaelk

I await doujins with Utaka sisters, especially Karen. : D

Feb 18, 2011 5:04 AM by OrochiPL

BlueCyanide said:
that may attract otaku but not the NEETS it might work lol id rather just go to akihabara

I agree with you!
Akihabara is a better place to go

Feb 17, 2011 11:56 PM by keboboy11

Doubt this will work much but...this IS Japan, anythings possible ^^;;

Feb 17, 2011 11:35 PM by Aozure

not what i would expect them to do, but its japan and anime is taking over XD

Feb 17, 2011 11:23 PM by CrystalLake

The post says "adult mangaka", if that means what I think it does, that means rule 34 on the mascots possibly already exists right off the bat! Dear god, WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE

Feb 17, 2011 10:35 PM by MadDogV2

Yea wth...where's my Aria epicness when it's called for?!

Feb 17, 2011 10:28 PM by Ceruhe

fri said:
They should have used Aria characters. I wouldn't mind traveling through the sea with Akari and Alice accompanying me.

This.
I'm sure they will get more business if the characters already have a fanbase.

Feb 17, 2011 7:13 PM by herox3

they could have just tried reducing prices... but lol whatever...

Feb 17, 2011 5:25 PM by Neverarine

d'awww, I approve.

Anthropomorphizing boats is awesome <3

Feb 17, 2011 3:57 PM by Detective

Making use of moe...

Feb 17, 2011 3:42 PM by AlexSadist-sama