If there is any country that has optimised its use of truly unique intellectual property (IP) entities in its destination marketing, it’s Japan.

More than a series of cute characters with their individual ranges of merchandise and entertainment programmes, Japanese IPs continue to serve as a major economic driver that brings tourists to other prefectures within the country.

As each prefecture or province boasts of unique traditions and cultural landmarks, these have served to raise awareness of the fact that there is more to Japan than just Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

It is worth noting that the use of IPs in Japanese destination marketing is covered by the country’s Intellectual Property Strategic Programme which has enabled individual prefectures to transform works of fiction into tangible tourism assets.

It all began with Cool Japan

To understand how and why IPs have become a major element of Japan’s destination marketing strategy, we need to go back to 2010 when the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) introduced the Cool Japan initiative.

Cool Japan was inspired by the cultural phenomenon that was the United Kingdom’s Cool Britannia in the late 1990s when pop culture and then-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s New Labour mindset made the country cool again in the eyes of the world.

The Japanese spin on this made the most of the keen interest in manga, anime, games, fashion, and even cuisine throughout the period between 200 and 2020.

As OP Jindal Global University - Centre for Northeast Asian Studies researcher Shehaan Sahni wrote in 2024:  

“The strategy was employed with the intention of creating a national movement to encourage the Japanese citizens to employ their flourishing creativity to the maximum. This was done across a wide variety of spectrums, including but not limited to designs, artwork, any creativity aiding the development of a business, innovation, and promoting healthy interactions.” 

Cool Japan in this context was an early example of a country leveraging its soft power to meet its foreign policy and tourism goals.

While the programme hit financial snags in the years following the pandemic, it cannot be denied that it spurred the tourism sector to new heights and made individual local governments see how they could use pop cultural items as a way of boosting their location’s visibility to the world.

IPs are a tool in the local government’s gearbox

While overtourism remains a major issue, especially in Japan’s major cities, the use of IPs in destination marketing has taken some of the strain off urban areas as these draw foreign travellers to areas beyond the standard itinerary.

Indeed, IPs have made individual prefectures more proactive in terms of destination marketing and tourism promotion.

Rather than expecting some film outfit or manga artist to feature their area in a production, prefectural governments actively finance and / or produce IPs that are unique to their location and these serve as a major draw for travellers, especially teens and young adults who make up the oshikatsu (fan / supporter) demographic.

But having a cute mascot or character ambassador is just the tip of the iceberg here: prefectural governments maximise visibility by developing digital assets and teaming up with online influencers for a wider reach.

In some cases, especially in areas like Kumamoto and Oita which have successfully used both local and global IPs in their promotional strategies, character-centric experiences are embedded throughout their physical landscape, enticing travellers to follow a trail to spot as many as they can.

Case study: Kumamoto’s big-eyed bear

One of the most successful prefectural IPs in Japan actually comes from an area that was once characterised as a sleepy agricultural community.

Kumamoto is now best known as the home of Kumamon, a startled-looking black bear whose big-eyed visage appears on everything from snacks to a variety of collectable items available not only in its hometown but now practically everywhere.

According to the official Kumamoto Prefecture info page:

“Kumamon, the official mascot of Kumamoto, serves the prefectural government with two titles: sales manager and happiness manager. [He] is charged with finding surprises and delights close at hand and conveying them to the world.”

Created by fashion designer Manabu Mizuno and introduced as Kumamoto’s official mascot in 2010, Kumamon has since earned more than US$11.1 billion for his home prefecture’s economy as of end-2025.

In 2025 alone, merchandise sales and ticket sales for official Kumamon events totalled US$942 million, and it is interesting to note that most of these are from foreign buyers rather than domestic.

As a May 2026 report from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun put it:

“Prefectural officials expect overseas expansion is playing a key role in sustaining the mascot's popularity. Exports rose steadily from about $3.76 million in 2022 to approximately $10.03 million in 2025. According to the prefecture, 30 percent of exports went to Taiwan, 29.7 percent to Hong Kong and 20.8 percent to regions outside East and Southeast Asia.”

Indeed, Kumamon’s popularity is such that he became the face of the Yatsushiro Cruise Festival sponsored by Royal Caribbean in 2024, as well as the face of the relief and recovery operations following the massive Kumamoto earthquake in 2016.

Kumamon is just one prime example of how IPs can be used, even maximised, in the promotion of destinations,

It goes without saying that they aren’t just cute or quirky: they reveal the appeal of a destination and the warmth of its people, something that Japan continues to do very well.