A few months ago, the following three wayspot images were removed by the management team.
I think the reason may be that the images are inappropriate, but they are not inappropriate at all, rather, they are symbols of contribution to the community and were very popular Pokéstops as gifts in Pokémon Go.
I sincerely ask that the deleted image be restored.
Target spots
(1) とある自治体の地域振興『立川伊勢屋』
Promotion of a TOARU Municipality “Tachikawa Iseya”
Location:35.702999, 139.416702
(2) とある自治体の地域振興『ビジネスホテル小沢屋』
Promotion of a TOARU Municipality “Business Hotel Ozawaya”
Location:35.696951, 139.411452
(3) とある自治体の地域振興『菊川園』
Promotion of a TOARU Municipality “Kikukawa-en”
Location:35.697386, 139.409821
[Reason for requesting revival]
These wayspots are life-size panels that are tied up with Tachikawa City, the model for the popular Japanese anime “Toaru Majutsu no Index” and “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun”, and are an official regional promotion measure that brings out the best of the region and is an attraction for visitors to this location.
Anime fans visiting these locations come for the life-size panels and other anime-related merchandise rather than for the appearance of the stores.
In fact, when the store was featured in the Japanese TV program “Admatic Tengoku,” which introduces the area, the owner was interviewed along with the life-size panel, rather than the exterior of the store, and said that he wanted to please anime fans who visit the store.
Since there are no images of the TV screen, we put the URL on the program’s homepage as evidence that “Iseya” was covered in the program.
In this way, we sincerely hope for the revival of attractive images that match WAYSPOT’s philosophy of “local attractions” and that thrill visitors and invite them to an adventure.
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I assume that the images were removed for the following reasons.
- The title and the image do not match, or the image is not appropriate for the title.
- The image is not appropriate for the title.
- The image (life-size panel) is not permanent.
- The image should be recognizable from the outside.
- It is hard to tell what kind of wayspot it is if someone doesn’t know what it is.
- Life-size panels are not visible from the outside, and their existence cannot be confirmed.
- There is a possibility of copyright infringement.
- Animated images are inappropriate.
I will explain why these opinions are off the mark below.
<<The title and the image do not match, or the image is not appropriate for the title.>>
The title is unified as [Promotion of a TOARU Municipality ].
The “Promotion of a Toaru Municipality” is the very name of a campaign conducted by Tachikawa City, which can be found here.
This campaign started in 2010, and at a certain time each year, the city holds an event and this popular campaign attracts many fans from all over Japan. Naturally, it will be held again this year.
In addition, even outside of the upcoming events, permanent life-size panels are always present in these stores, along with tie-in products.
In other words, these life-size panels represent the very “regional promotion of a Toaru municipality,” and it is rather difficult to understand what is wrong with the title and the image.
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The title says “regional promotion of a Toaru municipality,” and the description of the wayspot also states that it is a tie-up with an anime for regional promotion of a Toaru municipality.
It is easy to understand if you look it up, and anyone can understand it if they visit the site.
It is simply negligence to not know what a wayspot is.
<<The image (life-size panel) is not permanent.>>
It has been in existence since 2010.
Of course, it may be hard to imagine that the campaign will continue forever.
However, the anime is modeled on Tachikawa, and that in itself will not change.
It may end when this anime loses popularity and the tie-up is no longer worthwhile, but so far there is no sign of that happening.
At the very least, this anime, which is well known not only in Japan but also abroad, is not something that will end anytime soon.
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<<Life-size panels are not visible from the outside, and their existence cannot be confirmed.>>
This opinion is contrary to what was said in the AMA.
It is inappropriate as an opinion because anyone can check them out on site.
A Google image search will quickly confirm the existence of these life-size panels as many people have taken pictures of them, so it is negligent to say that they are not known.
<<It is hard to tell what kind of wayspot it is if someone doesn’t know what it is.>>
This is exactly the time to implement the role that WAYSPOT plays.
The regional tie-up campaign that this life-size panel represents is one of the attractions of Tachikawa City and should be made known. It is not something that can be expressed by the mere appearance of a store.
We need an image of the life-size panel to let people know what the wayspot is.
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It would be understandable if there were a sign on site saying, “Please do not photograph.
However, the reality is the opposite. If you ask the store staff, they will tell you to take pictures and post them on social networking sites.
These life-size panels are in a public place where people can see them, and as the Google Street View case shows, things that can be seen by the public do not fall under the scope of copyright protection.
In fact, Tachikawa City would like to see the use of this service actively promoted from the viewpoint of regional development.
It is a suitable image for the purpose of spreading the local important things as the philosophy of WAYSPOT.
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I don’t expect anyone associated with Pokémon to say such a thing.
Several people have tweeted their sadness on social networking sites after these life-size panels were removed. I thought it was inevitable if they were denied by the community, but I am very disappointed that the management forcibly removed them without disclosing the reason.
Please help us to restore the image.