"2016 Hometown Specialty Products of the Year" Awards Ceremony Regional Revitalization Grand Prize Winners (People, Products, and Activities) Announced!

The award ceremony for the "Furusato Meihin of the Year" (Furusato Premium Products of the Year) (Organizer: The Executive Committee; Supported by: Cabinet Office, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), an award system supporting premium regional products that sustain local futures and their market development, was held on March 21 at the Central Government Building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. The organizing committee's secretariat companies are H.I.S., Sankei Shimbun, J:COM, JTB, Dai-Nichi Co., Ltd., TV Tokyo Communications, Dentsu Inc., Tri-Stage, Do House, Japan Post, Yahoo! JAPAN, and Rakuten. Additionally, 12 companies and organizations are listed as official supporters.

This program aims to shine a light on outstanding products and initiatives within regions that are still unknown to the wider world, making them known to more people. This marks its second year, following last year's inaugural event.

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At the opening, project designer and executive committee chair Hima Furuta stated, "Just as with the Meiji Restoration 150 years ago, when a new era arrives, something always begins locally and spreads throughout Japan and the world. We want to convey what is happening across Japan right now."

Kozo Yamamoto, Minister for Regional Revitalization and final judge, commented on the program: "This is a rare initiative where private companies come together without government subsidies, pooling their wisdom and effort to recognize masterpieces that contribute to regional revitalization. I hear last year's winners saw their networks expand and sales channels grow thanks to this award. I hope regional companies will continue to demonstrate a spirit of self-reliance and actively promote their local resources."

This year, in addition to the Regional Revitalization Grand Prize, Regional Revitalization Awards, and category awards, the Policy Encouragement Award was presented.

The Category Awards are independently discovered and honored by member companies and organizations handling regional specialty products, recognizing items with high potential to support the region's future and the initiatives supporting them. There are 34 Category Awards categorized under "People, Activities, or Products."

From these category awards, the Regional Revitalization Grand Prize and Regional Revitalization Awards are selected based on the criterion of "whether they successfully fostered momentum for regional transformation and achieved its realization." The Regional Revitalization Grand Prize honored the most outstanding product from each theme ("People," "Things," or "Events") for a total of three products. The Regional Revitalization Awards honored two products from each theme for a total of six products.

The newly established Policy Encouragement Award nominated four outstanding products: candidates recommended from each category that narrowly missed winning a Regional Revitalization Award, plus one candidate specially recommended by the Cabinet Office from a policy perspective. From these, one product particularly worthy of commendation for its contribution to advancing regional revitalization policy was selected as the winner, with the remaining three also recognized as finalists. This time, the "Hometown Ama CAS System" (Ama Town, Shimane Prefecture) was awarded.

And finally, the 2016 Regional Revitalization Grand Prize was announced. In the People category, the "KUHANA! Film Club" (Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture), selected from the "Popular Dad Support Division" recommended by Mote Papa LAB., won. In the Things category, the "Kaki Butter" (Nara Prefecture, Gojo City), selected from the "Didn't Know This Existed! Division" recommended by 47CLUB Inc./Dentsu Inc., won. "Kaki Butter" (Gojo City, Nara Prefecture), recommended by 47CLUB/Dentsu from the "Didn't Know This Existed! Category"; and in the Experience Category, the "Tachikawa City Premium Marriage Registration Form" (Tachikawa City, Tokyo), recommended by J:COM from the "Local Treasures You'd Want as Hometown Souvenirs Category".

In addition to receiving trophies from Regional Revitalization Minister Yamamoto, the winners also received supplementary prizes and congratulatory comments: - "KUHANA! Film Club" received a prize from final judge Hiroya Masuda (Advisor, Nomura Research Institute) - "Persimmon Butter" received a prize from Asuka Wada (Model, Food Education Instructor) - "Tachikawa City Premium Marriage Registration Form" received a prize from Miki Tominaga (Freelance Announcer)

During the award announcements, promotional videos for each winning entry were shown. Chairman Furuta commented, "This time, the high level of presentation from everyone was truly impressive. Each video was concise, around one minute long, yet highly impactful and well-suited for sharing on social media."

As a surprise for the winners, members from AKB48 Team 8—an idol group formed by selecting one representative from each of Japan's 47 prefectures—took the stage: Hinano Noda (Mie Prefecture representative), Momoka Onishi (Nara Prefecture representative), and Yui Oguri (Tokyo Prefecture representative). They delivered congratulatory messages to the three prefectures that won the Grand Prize: Mie, Nara, and Tokyo.

Minister Yamamoto, in charge of regional revitalization, concluded the ceremony by stating, "When I advocate the spirit of self-reliance in regional areas, some say, 'We have no resources, so it's impossible.' However, today's Grand Prize winners all originated from places that were by no means blessed with abundant resources. What's remarkable is that they each devised ways to create resources through ingenuity. I would like to express my gratitude to the companies that supported these initiatives."

Official Website: https://furusatomeihin.jp/