Middle-Aged Man Trading Cards Go Viral in Rural Japan Town

Summary

In the small town of Kawara in Fukuoka Prefecture, something unexpected is happening at the Saidosho Community Center. While kids in most parts of Japan are obsessed with Pokémon cards — or perhaps the franchise’s latest smartphone game, Pokémon TCG Pocket — the children of Kawara are clutching to something a little closer to home. They are playing a trading card game (TCG) where the stars aren’t fantasy creatures, anime heroes or even famous baseball players, but ojisan (middle-aged or older men) from the local community of Saidosho. Image: Mayuko Ichii | edits by TW A Card Game With a Local Twist On the surface, this Ojisan TCG looks like any other collectible card game. As of March 18, there are 47 different cards in the collection, including 28 featuring local men with stats and special abilities. Take the Firewall card, for example. It features Mr. Honda (74), a former fire brigade chief who helped keep the town safe for decades. Then there’s Soba Master Mr. Takeshita (81), who runs a local soba noodle-making class and now holds legendary status among the town’s youth. The most popular of them all is probably All-Rounder Mr. Fujii (68), a former prison officer turned community volunteer. His card is so sought after that local kids have even started asking him for autographs. “I was honestly shocked when they asked me to sign it,” Mr. Fujii said, laughing. “I never imagined I’d become a trading card, let alone have fans.” Each card comes with different attacks and an assigned elemental type — just like a classic fantasy card game — but with a humorous, real-world edge. For instance, Firewall is, unsurprisingly, a fire type, equipped with a Super Guard move, which deals a hefty 200 damage. A card called Plasma Conductor, featuring a smiling, bespectacled ojisan juxtaposed with an image of a lightbulb, is an electric type. At the bottom of the card, there is a line of text explaining how he can fix any electrical appliance without fail. Screenshot taken from FNN P...