The campaign inspired by Japan’s aging population aims to let people virtually experience kombu kelp drying and ultimately promote a part time job of ‘actual’ kombu kelp drying.
Philosophy
The campaign inspired by Japan’s aging population aims to let people virtually experience kombu kelp drying and ultimately promote a part time job of ‘actual’ kombu kelp drying.
Problem
Kombu kelp is one of the most important ingredients in Japanese cuisine. However, it is feared that kombu kelp might disappear from dining table in 20 years; not because of resource depletion but of labor shortage as drying kombu kelp requires physical labor, and it’s not the most fascinating job for young people. Japan is one of the most aging countries in the world and Rishiri Town is aging much faster even by Japanese standard. As of March 2019, its people over 65 years old is over 41%. Despite the abundant kombu kelp off the coast of Rishiri Island, locals have not been able to collect and sell much as they do not have enough man power. Even worse, many part timers leave in the middle of the kombu kelp drying season because they didn’t know it would be that hard. Kombu Hosu! Hosu! is designed to address this issue. It aims to increase the awareness of kombu kelp among young people but more importantly, it minimizes employment expectations’ mismatch through game-style web content allowing job applicants to experience the challenges and the beauty of the job. Users can dry 3 meter-long Kombu kelp by shaking the phone while keeping the phone close to them. 3 meters is the average length of the actual Kombu kelp. Once started drying kombu kelp, a bossy and over-reactive fisherman captain guides the user throughout the drying process, encouraging in both strict and sweet manner. After the mission of kombu kelp drying is completed, he tells the user to consider the seasonal job opening.