Kumamon leaps into national phenomenon The Latter Part
12/5/2013
Copyright fee made free/著作権の無料化
The biggest factor behind Kumamon’s explosive popularity was the prefectural government’s decision to free its copyright fee. Any individual or company can freely use the character if permitted by the government. No product development using Kumamon had been initially permitted. But the prefectural government purchased its copyright, making the development and marketing of such goods possible for an indefinite period after December 24, 2010, subject to its permission. Curiously enough, a family Buddhist altar was the first goods to be allowed to use the name of Kumamon. The number of authorized goods and companies has since been on the constant rise. According to an announcement by the prefectural government, which covered 1,172 of the 2,112 authorized companies, sales of their Kumamon goods amounted to 29,360 million yen in 2012, up more than 11 fold from the previous year. Foods accounted for an overwhelming 25 billion yen, with non-food goods totaling only 2,600 million yen. This indicates that Kumamon was used as a logo for food packages.
くまモンが爆発的にヒットした最大の要因は、著作権料の無料化だろう。くまモンは、熊本県の許可があれば、個人または企業で、無料で利用することができる。キャラクター発表当初は、くまモンを利用した商品開発は認められなかったが、著作権を熊本県が買い上げることによって、１０年１２月２４日以降は商品開発やグッズ販売においても県の許可を得たうえで、(当面の間は)無料で使用可能となった。くまモングッズは、第１号である「くまモン仏壇」を皮切りに、使用許可件数と許可を得た会社数が順調に伸びていった。熊本県の発表によると、１２年の１年間で、使用許可を得た2,112社のうち、報告のあった1,172社だけでも、関連商品の売上が前年の11倍以上にあたる２９３億６千万円に達した。その内訳は食品関係が約２５０億円で、それ以外のグッズが２６億円。多くが食品パッケージのロゴとしての使用であることが分かる。
Mascots face problems/ゆるキャラが抱える問題点
There is no doubt that Kumamon has brought a lot of economic effect to Kumamoto Prefecture. The same can be said of some other local mascots, such as "Hikonyan" of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture and "Barysan" of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture. Such being the case, it may be only natural for other municipalities or prefectures to crank out their mascots to try to be successful. In fact, the local mascots registered for participation in the 2013 "Grand Prix” competition numbered 1,580, close to twice as many as that in the previous year. However, these campaigns cost enormously. For example, the Sano city office, the sponsor of “Sanomaru” that won the Grand Prix for the year, went on the record that it had spent 7 million yen in taxpayer’s money to fund its election campaign. The Gunma prefectural government has said it spends 14.27 million yen in annual budget to promote its official mascot "Gunma-chan".
くまモンのヒットで熊本県には多くの経済効果がもたらされた。くまモン以外にも、「ひこにゃん」（滋賀県彦根市）や「バリィさん」（愛媛県今治市）など、多くのゆるキャラ達が地方自治体に経済効果をもたらした。２匹目のドジョウを狙って、「オラが町にも」と考えるのは自然で、事実「ゆるキャラグランプリ２０１３」には、前年の倍近い１５８０もの出場があった。しかし、同年のゆるキャラグランプリで優勝した栃木県佐野市の「さのまる」には、市が７００万円もの税金を投じて選挙戦を実施したと公言。また群馬県公認キャラの「ぐんまちゃん」には、１４２７万円もの予算が投じられている。
Says Yoichi Sasaki, senior analyst at PHP Interface’s Regional Management Research Center, “It’s very likely that even in the case of Kumamon, the cost involved is bigger than the resultant tax revenue increase." Jun Miura, advocate of yuru-kyara, has defined the practice as “aimed for the development of regional economies”. It may be good to jump on the bandwagon. However, full consideration is needed to prevent local governments from running into extra financial burdens as a result of their publicity campaign.
ＰＨＰ研究所地域経営研究センターの佐々木陽一主任研究員によると、「くまモンでさえ、コストと税収増の数字を試算すると、コストが上回っている可能性が高い」そうだ。ゆるキャラ提唱者のみうらじゅん氏の想定では、ゆるキャラは「地方の村おこし・地域振興のためのキャラクター」である。ブームに便乗するのはいいが、地方自治体の財政圧迫には十分な配慮が必要だろう。
Written By: Kento Isogai