The characters in Natsume's Friend's Account go on a tour of the Holy Land in the anime

▲ Anime produced by Kumamoto Prefecture, the protagonists and characters of Natsume's Friends' Account parade around the Hitoyoshi-kukuma area. (C) Courtesy of Midorikawa Yuki Shiraizumi and natsume's Friend's Account Production Committee

Danyll (Translated) In order to support the revival of Hitoyoshi City and Kumama-gun in Kumamoto Prefecture, which were hit by heavy rains last July, the local government produced an animation of the protagonists of "Natsume's Friend's Account" touring sightseeing spots such as the Kurimagawa River. The anime began to be broadcast on the Internet on the 21st.

Natsume Friends' Account is a manga for girls created by Yuki Midorikawa from Kumamoto Prefecture and is currently being serialized in the manga magazine LaLa (Shiraizumisha). The animated version began airing in 2008. The story tells the daily story of a teenager who can see yokai, inherits the "friend's account" that records the names of the yokai servants that his grandmother took in during his lifetime, and together with the big yokai and cat teacher who acts as a bodyguard, returns the names in the "friend's account" and gives the yokai freedom.

The public animation is about 2 minutes and 40 seconds long. It tells the story of the protagonist Takashi Natsume and The Cat Teacher drifting down the Kurima River, one of Japan's three great rapids, to visit the largest stalactite cave in Kyushu, "Bulbozumi Cave". Although it is currently impossible to drift or visit the Cave of The Ball Spring due to heavy rain, the anime depicts what the area looked like before the disaster with the wish for revival.

Hitoyoshi City and Ball Mill Gun are the realistic locations for the anime, and real-life places such as Nishisebashi in the Kurimagawa River and Sugawara Tenmangu Shrine in Tamachi also appear in the anime. There are many anime fans who go on a tour of the local "Holy Land".

However, due to the heavy rain, the number of tourists has plummeted. In order to attract people again and rejuvenate the local area, Kumamoto Prefecture requested the assistance of YukiShira Midorikawa and produced an animation for 6.6 million yen. Shirasen commented, "I hope you can enjoy the warm atmosphere of Natsume's Friends' Tent and the beautiful and leisurely time in the Hitoyoshi-Kurima area."