Japan has a history of yuru-chara, mascots to promote things like localities. For example, Susaki City’s Chiitan is quite famous, though it did have its Twitter accounts suspended recently, Kumamoto Prefecture’s Kumamon and Funabashi’s Funassyi each have things like products, CDs, DVDs, and video games connected to them. The same happens with Pokemon Local Acts, where certain Pokemon act as ambassadors for certain areas. Six currently represent different areas, and now an official English website has been launched to help more people learn about them. (You can also view the page in Japanese, Korean, and both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.)
The Pokemon Local Acts website is designed to help people who might be thinking of visiting Japan or who are interested in the mascots learn more. It lets people search by mascot. This means Fukushima’s Chansey, Hokkaido’s Alolan Vulpix and Vulpix, Iwate’s Geodude, Kagawa’s Slowpoke, Miyagi’s Lapras, and Tottori’s Alolan Sandslash and Sandslash each have their own pages that go over their history, explain why they were chosen for that region, offer details about the Pokemon, talk about the area, show pictures from special events, and look at special products related to the Pokemon in that area. People planning trips can also look at an event page to see what might be going on soon. For example, one of the more recent events was a July 22, 2019 Fukushima & Chansey Peach Festival with special merchandise, peach-related foods, and Pokemon GO-related events.
There is also a special page dedicated to Poke Lids. These are the Pokemon Utility Hole Covers that appear in certain cities in Japan. You can find out exactly where the Poke Lids in Iwate, Kagoshima, and Kanagawa are located, while also getting a look at the official art for each one.
