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Located about the center of Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture is a home of Mt. Fuji and green tea, and its coast area has an old hot spring resort city and is a popular tourist destination.

Tea Plantation and Mt. Fuji by 里人

Early this month, the prefecture launched a project “CHA88” to promote its first-picked tea, and the official characters have drawn a lot of attentions from internet users because they are anime characters!

12 girl-characters were made for the project. As you can see, each one wears something green or tea leaf.

There is even a theme song for the project. The lilting tune is so not green-tealike…but it is catchy.

To explain the project name, “CHA(cha)” means tea in Japanese and in this project it also stands for Communication Hospitality Association.

“88” came from “hachiju-hachiya,” which literally means”88 nights.” It refers the first tea-picking day, which is eighty-eighth days since the beginning of spring. The first -picked tea is characterized by its fresh aroma and sweetness.

Shizuoka’s first picked green tea is famous already but the sales is going down especially among young people. That is why the prefecture used the original anime characters to catch young people’s attentions.

Link: CHA88 Website (Japanese)

This is JAPAN Style!