“This used to be a place where people stopped on their way to Amakusa just to use the restroom,” said shop manager Shinzen Takezoe.
“Since Jinbe arrived, we have seen more tourists.”
According to navigation app Navitime, Uto ranked first in Kumamoto for foreign visitor growth, with numbers rising more than seven-fold between 2019 and 2023.
Still, the influx has not solved every problem.
Many visitors stop to take photographs without venturing into the surrounding community, said Yoshiharu Fujiyama, former head of the Udo Sumiyoshi Fisheries Cooperative.
“The (visitors) don’t enter this area, but just take pictures and go,” he said.
He added that local seaweed farmers are also grappling with poor harvests and a lack of successors to take over their businesses.
For Uto, and other towns facing demographic and economic decline, the challenge is finding ways to turn fleeting visits into lasting economic opportunities.
Numazu offers a glimpse of what is possible. There, anime fans have gone from visiting locations featured in their favourite series to putting down roots, showing how pop culture’s influence can extend well beyond tourism.
For these communities, the real measure of success may not be how many fans come to visit, but how many find a reason to stay.
