Slowpoke Has a Pokémon Company-Approved Job Promoting Japan’s Smallest Prefecture and Revitalizing Its Traditional Craft

Slowpoke may be one of the laziest-looking Pokémon, but he actually has a job promoting Japan’s smallest region. As part of Kagawa prefecture’s ongoing official collaboration with The Pokémon Company, the Water-type Pokémon is now on a mission to regenerate the area’s centuries-old traditional craft — Kagawa lacquerware.

As reported by local outlet KSB news, a group of local trade school students specializing in Kagawa lacquerware have designed and made a range of Slowpoke-themed pieces to raise awareness of the traditional industry — and now their work is currently on display at an exhibition in Tokyo until February 17.

This is just the latest part of a wider official collaboration with The Pokémon Company, as Kagawa has been using Slowpoke as a mascot to promote the local area for over seven years.

But of all the Pokémon, why is Kagawa prefecture linked to Slowpoke? Located on Shikoku, one of Japan’s four main islands, Kagawa prefecture is best known for its thick, chewy wheat noodles, known as Sanuki Udon. In Japanese, Slowpoke is called Yadon, which sounds a bit like udon.

But that’s not all. Kagawa prefecture gets very low rainfall and has an institute that researches rare sugar. According to the Pokémon Local Acts website, these are just some of the reasons that make the Water-based Pokémon that excretes sweet sap from its tail a good fit. Indeed, Kagawa lacquerware is a technique that uses layers of lacquer (tree sap) to give a durable, often multicolored finish (a process you can read more about here).

Although the association between Slowpoke and Kagawa began in 2015, it wasn’t until 2018 that the Pokémon officially became one of the first local area ambassadors as part of The Pokémon Company’s Local Acts initiative, which pairs Pokémon with Japanese prefectures to promote each area’s charms.

Slowpoke has since appeared on Kagawa souvenirs, mailboxes and even manhole covers. It’s not uncommon for someone to don the Slowpoke mascot suit at various promotional events and festivals (Kagawa also has another official mascot character Udonnoww, i.e. “Udon Brain”- who literally seems to have udon on their mind).

These latest Pokémon pieces were made by Takamatsu Technical High School’s Creative 7 group, which focuses on designing and making affordable Kagawa lacquerware items that people will want to buy — even including phone cases. The Pokémon items are just one part of the Kagawa Lacquerware PR Project, which aims to revitalize the local traditional art and ensure it is passed onto future generations.

Craft items created include a range of snoozing Slowpokes with different colored glazes and lacquered Pokéballs. These Pokémon-themed objects and other items by the group will be on display at the Kagawa-Ehime Setouchi Shunsaikan in Tokyo’s Shimbashi district for another week. Perhaps Slowpoke’s Regenerator ability can help make sure Kagawa lacquerware gets a figurative HP restore?

Image credit: Pokémon via BK

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.