Girls in games and sake in Wakayama

by | Jul 16, 2018 | Sake News from Japan

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The Sankei News site has an article about sake and computer game characters – but it’s not Miki no Mikoto again, this time it’s the venerable idol singer franchise Idol Master: Cinderella Girls and Kaede Takagaki, one of its (many, many) characters.

The mobile phone game has a huge following and it’s not uncommon for fans to go to real-life locations associated with the characters.

In this case, the sake shop Matsuo Saketen, which sells Takagaki sake, and other businesses in Wakayama celebrated the fictional character’s birthday on 14 June, entertaining the fans who came to her “home town” on her birthday.

Matsuo Saketen sold out of Takagaki sake this day last year, selling as much in a day as they would in a normal month. They anticipate selling twice as much this year, as fans continue to treat Wakayama City as a pilgrimage site.

Visitors came from other prefectures and even as far away as Taiwan. A 21 year old university student from Chiba Prefecture said he might never have come to Wakayama if it hadn’t been for “Kaede-san”, but that the sake was also very appealing and he hoped to visit again.

Wakayama City also has it own, real, Kaede Takagaki. Takagaki is her married name, and the public servant had no idea a computer game character with the same first and last name existed until about six years ago. She gave the whole phenomenon her blessing, saying it was wonderful to see Wakayama Castle and other local scenes in the background and also the character eating delicacies from the surrounding Kada area.

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