Interest
Osaka Shopping District to Hold Valentine's-Themed Inari Kon Kon Contest
posted on by Eric Stimson
Namba Walk, an underground shopping district in downtown Osaka, is holding a contest in the week before Valentine's Day in collaboration with the romance manga and anime Inari Kon Kon. Five character standees will be placed around the district with keywords written on them. Collect all the words, and you'll get this special badge featuring Inari Kon Kon's Inari with "Namba Wan," Namba Walk's canine mascot. There will be 50 available per day.
In addition, students of the Osaka Chouri Seika Senmon Gakkou, a confectionery school, will be building a shrine in Namba Walk out of sweets — specifically, chocolate, cookies, biscuits, macaroons, cream puffs, sculpted candy and bread, and glace royale (a type of icing). The shrine will be 5'11'' tall and will include a torii (Japanese shrine gate) 7'10'' tall. Naturally, the shrine will be dedicated to matchmaking, and the students will take Valentine's Day pictures of guests to the shrine.
Ema (wooden prayer tablets) and o-mikuji (paper fortunes) will also be available for free to hang at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, where much of the action in Inari Kon Kon is set. They will feature Namba Wan and wish for romantic fulfillment. Students will also pass out chocolate cookies to visitors with receipts over 500 yen (about $4.18).
The candy shrine will be built from February 7 to 9, with a dedication ceremony scheduled for the 9th at 2 PM. The shrine will stay up until after Valentine's Day. The Inari Kon Kon badges, ema, o-mikuji and cookies will be available starting on February 11.
[Via Comic Natalie]
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