Interest
Shikoku City Earns 1/2 of Last Year's Tax Receipts in 3 Days Thanks to Anime Posters
posted on by Eric Stimson
In Japan, the "hometown tax" (furusato nōzei) program rewards citizens for paying their hometown taxes with deluxe gift items, usually food packages of the local specialties. Anime tie-ins, however, have drawn the attention of many a citizen with no connection to the city at all. Tokushima, a city in eastern Shikoku, leveraged its connections with ufotable (it has a studio there) to offer taxpayers a series of anime posters featuring characters from the studio's works. They are depicted doing the Awa Dance, a popular festival held in Tokushima as part of Japan's August Obon festivities.
The IDOLM@STER
The strategy has paid off nicely for Tokushima. Although applications only began on January 27, the city had already raked in about 8.5 million yen ($75,000) by the 29th. That's more than half of last year's tax receipts received through the hometown tax program in only three days. This amount represents 112 individual orders.
Ohenro
Among the characters ufotable Tokushima has portrayed are those from The IDOLM@STER, Ohenro, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, The Garden of Sinners and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Normally these posters are not sold, but simply used as decoration around town during the festival. The campaign will continue until March 6.
Other towns to reap bumper tax payments from anime include Hannō (Yama no Susume), Mashiki (One Piece) and Tendō (March comes in like a lion).
