“Yuri’s katsudon”
Facing the Genkai Sea is Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, the hometown of Waseda University’s second dean, Tameyuki Amano, and the location of the Waseda Saga Junior High and Senior High School. Next to the school towers the city’s symbol, Karatsu Castle, and lining the Karatsu Bay like the arc of a rainbow is the Rainbow Pine Grove, one of Japan’s three major pine groves. While the picturesque city is blessed with marine products, according to A Collection of Data Relating to Karatsu City Issues (presented by Karatsu City), the rate at which the city’s population is aging is higher than the national average, and it’s estimated that in 50 years the current population of 125,000 will be cut in half. Hearing talk of a katsudon “boom” in Karatsu City, the Waseda Weekly editorial team went to investigate.
A shopping arcade which appears in the anime
Kyomachi Shopping Arcade, the model for the anime’s shopping arcade. Look at the tiger design on the shirt to the right and try to find it in the anime screenshot.
From October 2016, unusual sights could be seen around the depopulating and aging city of Karatsu. The owner of a clothing shop in the Kyomachi Shopping Arcade in front of JR Karatsu Station explains: “There was a sudden increase in young women and foreign tourists taking pictures in front of the store. I had no idea what was happening.” These young women and foreign tourists with cameras in hand could also be seen at the onsen facilities, and they were all ordering katsudon.
The home of Yuri’s family is an onsen lodge called Yu-topia Katsuki
The entrance to Kagamiyama Onsen Tea House Bijin no Yu
It just so happens that Yuri on Ice, a figure skating themed anime, had begun airing on television (TV Asahi), and the city in which the anime takes place, the fictional Hasetsu, Kyushu, was modeled after Karatsu City. Thus Karatsu City became a “pilgrimage” site for fans of the anime. The favorite food of protagonist Yuri Katsuki, coach Victor Nikiforov, and rival Yuri Plisetsky is Yu-topia Katsuki’s katsudon. According to Kagamiyama Onsen Tea House Bijin no Yu, after which the anime’s onsen lodge is modeled, the number of katsudon orders increased to 200 per day on weekends and holidays following the anime’s airing.
Victor stuffing his cheeks with katsudon
Yuri’s rival, Yuri Plisetsky, is also a fan of katsudon
Yu-topia Katsuki’s dining hall
Kagamiyama Onsen Tea House Bijin no Ya’s dining hall. Here many tourists are seen eating katsudon (this photograph was taken on a weekday when it was not busy).
Katsudon is an important part of the anime
Kagamiyama Onsen Tea House’s katsudon
The anime’s popularity extends overseas and among its fans is world-class figure skater Evgenia Medvedevan. International fans are constantly uploading their own katsudon recipes to Youtube.
I’ll take it. Pack him, please pic.twitter.com/riGHu0Iyj4
— Evgenia Medvedeva (@JannyMedvedeva) 2017年4月19日
Evgenia Medvedeva posing like Victor from the anime (taken from her twitter account)
As the anime’s popularity continued to soar domestically and internationally, so did Karatsu City’s popularity as a tourist attraction. Mitsurou Kubo, the anime’s creator, in addition to sharing information on social media, has visited the city and participated in anime-related collaborations. Local newspapers have covered Karatsu City’s transformation into a “pilgrimage” site and the sudden increase of katsudon-eating women. Local city residents have even formed the Hasetsu City and Karatsu City Friendship Association, officially establishing friendly relations between Karatsu City and the fictional Hasetsu City. In addition, “Saga on Ice,” a regional promotion campaign supported by Karatsu City and Saga Prefecture’s government administrations, was implemented from March to May 2017.
An official “pilgrimage” guide
Seeing the anime’s popularity as a golden opportunity to inform people of the city’s charms, residents of the depopulating Karatsu City attempted to use the anime to revitalize their community. As part of the “Saga on Ice” campaign, local administrations distributed an official “pilgrimage” guide and collaborated with local restaurants to create collaborative meals and goods, and organized events which could only be experienced in Karatsu City. Of course rounding off the pilgrimage was the katsudon at Kagamiyama Onsen Tea House.
The Hasetsu ice rink which appears in the anime
Waseda Saga School, which served as the “location” model for the anime’s ice rink
Where there is katsudon there is Waseda. One high school student documented the city’s anime-inspired promotion campaign. Kai Takayama, a second-year student at Waseda Saga High School and member of the school’s broadcasting club, produced a documentary centered on the activities of Akinori Kawakami, Chairman of the Hasetsu City and Karatsu City Friendship Association. Kawakami is the manager and chef of a steak restaurant which Takayama frequents. The two eventually became friends and Takayama decided to produce a documentary highlighting Kawakami’s activities. The documentary was shown at the 2017 National High School Cultural Festival in Miyagi Prefecture where approximately 20,000 high school students from Japan and overseas gathered to present the fruits of their arts and culture endeavors.
Pictured on the right is Takayama who produced a documentary for the 2017 National High School Cultural Festival in Miyagi Prefecture. On the left is Norihiko Mukai, fellow broadcasting club member working together with Takayama on a dramatic production.
Originally from Tokyo’s Suginami Ward, Takayama enrolled in the Waseda Saga Junior High School as a first-year student and moved into the Hattaro Student dormitory. He now considers Karatsu City his second home. “I actually watched Yuri on Ice. One day chef Kawakami said, ‘I want to better Karatsu City with this anime. That’s why I formed the Hasetsu City and Karatsu City Friendship Association.’ As a resident of Karatsu City, I also wanted to contribute in my own way, so I decided to produce a documentary,” explains Takayama.
“I admire Kawakami’s passion for his hometown. I think that now the best way to revitalize this city is with the anime. It fits with the times. Tourists and cosplayers come into town during the holidays, so I interview them. Kagayami Onsen’s katsudon is also popular so I went there to cover it and try it myself. I strongly feel that the city is livening up at the movement. With my documentary I want to capture and share the passion of Karatsu City’s residents.”
Chef Kawakami preparing steak
Takayama, who enjoys “making-of” documentaries of movies, hopes to enroll in Waseda University’s Studies in Theatre and Film Arts course at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. In the future he hopes to work in the film industry. “Waseda Saga High School has first-year students go on a Tokyo field trip, but sadly I didn’t go to Sanchoan where katsudon originated. I think a katsudon excursion in the field trip would give students a good opportunity to learn about Waseda University’s history and culture.”
Chef Kawakami cosplays as Yuri
We went to Caravan, Kawakami’s restaurant, to speak directly with the central figure of Takayama’s documentary. “There are many first-year junior high students who leave their hometown to live here. That’s why when a group of kids come to my restaurant I give them a special ‘Waseda discount’ on their Saga-gyu lunch sets. We are entrusting these kids with the future of Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, and Japan, so it’s the least I can do,” says Kawakami.
In February 2017, as Chairman of the Hasetsu City and Karatsu City Friendship Association, Kawakami visited Saga Shimbun’s president, Seiichiro Nakao (1984 Waseda University School of Commerce alumnus and head of Waseda University’s Saga Alumni Association), to explain the necessity of using Yuri on Ice to revitalize the city and gain the support of the newspaper. Takayama followed Kawakami to this meeting and recorded it for his documentary. Without the passionate and energetic Kawakami, the “Saga on Ice” regional promotion campaign may have never come to fruition.
Chef Kawakami amd Saga Shimbun President Seiichiro Nakao posing as Yuri on Ice characters (from Kawakami’s facebook page)
Kawakami is famous among Yuri on Ice fans. He was greeted by large groups of fans when he arrived at Haneda Airport to attend a Yuri on Ice event in Tokyo. Customers mid-pilgrimage flock to Kawakami’s restaurant, and he is surrounded by creators’ signatures and various goods. Kawakami expresses his love for Yuri on Ice and Karatsu City by reciting lines from the anime and doing “teppanyaki triple axel” performances for customers. After closing up shop for the day, Kawakami took us to Karatsu Castle, one of his favorite scenic spots. As we climbed the stone steps, we came across a bench where Yuri and Victor sit in the anime. An arc of light shined on the Karatsu Bay and Matsuura River and a magnificent skyline unfolded in front of our eyes.
The night skyline from Karatsu Castle
The same skyline portrayed in the anime but from the opposite side
After completing culinary training in Tokyo and Fukuoka, Kawakami took over his father’s restaurant. His father, who passed away five years ago, struggled to keep the restaurant in business. Kawakami, who has grown the restaurant into a Michelin 1-star restaurant, spoke to us about Karatsu City’s current state of affairs. “When I look at this curve of light I really feel like I am in Karatsu, like I’ve returned home. But Karatsu continues to decline. It’s energy continues to fade. Some parts of the shopping arcade look like a ghost town. Some people have taken their lives after their livelihoods were destroyed. I want to use Yuri on Ice as an energy source for regional creativity to prevent this light in front of us from fading away. That’s where I am directing all my energy.”
Although the anime resulted in an unprecedented boom in popularity for Karatsu City, the city has harbored sadness in its shadows for many years. How does Takayama’s documentary portray the city?
All Katsudon Leads to Waseda!!#3 After 100 Years, Sauce Katsudon Returns to Waseda
English translation: Joachim Muntal
