GK Kyoto Reconstructs Wakayama City's AI Character Utilization Project, Launches New Project Giving Human Value to 'AI Generation'
GK Kyoto has reconstructed Wakayama City's PR business using AI-generated characters and announced the new "Waka-Oshi!" project. The aim is to add human value to AI-generated materials, elevating them into more attractive and appealing content.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 22:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 13:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 27, 2026 at 13:45 (13 min after Collected)
GK Kyoto Co., Ltd. (Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture; Representative Director and President Fuki Asada) has been supporting the operation of Wakayama City's character promotion and adding new value to it, aiming to evolve the PR business using AI-generated and utilized characters in Wakayama City, which began in April 2025, into a more attractive and appealing project.
On April 27, 2026, the company announced a new promotion project called "Waka-Oshi!"
* "Waka-Oshi!" = A project to promote the charms of Wakayama City by combining "Wakayama City" and "Oshi" (a term for someone/something you strongly support).
Producing to "Convert AI Generation into Value"
In this project, instead of directly utilizing AI-generated character illustrations, GK Kyoto elevated them into attractive and appealing content through human discernment, editing, and re-composition. While AI can rapidly generate ideas, it cannot handle the semantic design and contextual construction of "who, what, and how to convey."
Therefore, GK Kyoto comprehensively redesigned the naming, settings, worldview, character design, and communication context, reconstructing the entire project so that each element works in conjunction. They carried out production that transformed characters from "utilized entities" into "beloved and chosen presences." This is not merely design supervision but the implementation of creative direction that converts AI-generated material into business value.
This initiative is an approach to re-edit AI-generated material in regional promotion and create new value.
Project Background and Specific Initiatives
Since April 2025, promotions using anthropomorphic character advertisements generated by AI, inspired by Wakayama City's six regions ("Wakayama City, Wakayama Castle, Sando, Kada, Wakaura, Saikazaki"), have been deployed at venues like the Osaka-Kansai Expo and major railway stations. (https://wakayama-city.note.jp/n/n8f91d6656960)
Subsequently, Wakayama City decided to further enhance its promotional activities to convey the charm of the region to more people. In December 2025, a joint production system with GK Kyoto was established.
Under this system, an illustrator affiliated with Chuwa Printing & Paper Box Co., Ltd. was responsible for designing six characters, and updates were made under the supervision of GK Kyoto. In character design, ideation and sculptural refinement were repeatedly carried out in collaboration with the illustrator to enhance completeness.
New Roles for Producers/Designers in the AI Era
With the spread of generative AI, it has become an era where anyone can produce output itself. What is needed in this context is the "ability to establish generated materials as value."
This initiative is a project that embodies the new role required of future producers/designers: starting with AI, people give meaning and appeal, and re-edit it into a form that reaches society. GK Kyoto will continue to redesign the relationship between AI and creativity not just as mere efficiency but as the very structure of value creation.
Future Developments
Going forward, this project will not be limited to regional PR but will expand points of contact connecting Wakayama City with users and fans through continuous communication design centered around the characters.
Furthermore, this model is planned to be deployed as a scheme applicable not only to tourism and local government domains but also to corporate brand development and product promotion.
GK Kyoto Co., Ltd.
A "Compass-type Design Firm" that Thinks Together and Creates the Future Together
GK Kyoto aims to be a design firm that serves as a compass for clients and societal challenges through the power of design in a broad sense.
In the conceptual phase, by visualizing thought processes and ideas, deepening thoughts with clients, and vividly depicting a future that evokes empathy, they clarify objectives and unleash energy towards realization.
In the implementation phase, by leveraging diverse design expertise, various industry experiences, and design management capabilities that freely combine these essences, they land complex design solutions as simple, harmonious, and powerful outcomes.
Established in 1972.
URL: https://www.gk-kyoto.com
On April 27, 2026, the company announced a new promotion project called "Waka-Oshi!"
* "Waka-Oshi!" = A project to promote the charms of Wakayama City by combining "Wakayama City" and "Oshi" (a term for someone/something you strongly support).
Producing to "Convert AI Generation into Value"
In this project, instead of directly utilizing AI-generated character illustrations, GK Kyoto elevated them into attractive and appealing content through human discernment, editing, and re-composition. While AI can rapidly generate ideas, it cannot handle the semantic design and contextual construction of "who, what, and how to convey."
Therefore, GK Kyoto comprehensively redesigned the naming, settings, worldview, character design, and communication context, reconstructing the entire project so that each element works in conjunction. They carried out production that transformed characters from "utilized entities" into "beloved and chosen presences." This is not merely design supervision but the implementation of creative direction that converts AI-generated material into business value.
This initiative is an approach to re-edit AI-generated material in regional promotion and create new value.
Project Background and Specific Initiatives
Since April 2025, promotions using anthropomorphic character advertisements generated by AI, inspired by Wakayama City's six regions ("Wakayama City, Wakayama Castle, Sando, Kada, Wakaura, Saikazaki"), have been deployed at venues like the Osaka-Kansai Expo and major railway stations. (https://wakayama-city.note.jp/n/n8f91d6656960)
Subsequently, Wakayama City decided to further enhance its promotional activities to convey the charm of the region to more people. In December 2025, a joint production system with GK Kyoto was established.
Under this system, an illustrator affiliated with Chuwa Printing & Paper Box Co., Ltd. was responsible for designing six characters, and updates were made under the supervision of GK Kyoto. In character design, ideation and sculptural refinement were repeatedly carried out in collaboration with the illustrator to enhance completeness.
New Roles for Producers/Designers in the AI Era
With the spread of generative AI, it has become an era where anyone can produce output itself. What is needed in this context is the "ability to establish generated materials as value."
This initiative is a project that embodies the new role required of future producers/designers: starting with AI, people give meaning and appeal, and re-edit it into a form that reaches society. GK Kyoto will continue to redesign the relationship between AI and creativity not just as mere efficiency but as the very structure of value creation.
Future Developments
Going forward, this project will not be limited to regional PR but will expand points of contact connecting Wakayama City with users and fans through continuous communication design centered around the characters.
Furthermore, this model is planned to be deployed as a scheme applicable not only to tourism and local government domains but also to corporate brand development and product promotion.
GK Kyoto Co., Ltd.
A "Compass-type Design Firm" that Thinks Together and Creates the Future Together
GK Kyoto aims to be a design firm that serves as a compass for clients and societal challenges through the power of design in a broad sense.
In the conceptual phase, by visualizing thought processes and ideas, deepening thoughts with clients, and vividly depicting a future that evokes empathy, they clarify objectives and unleash energy towards realization.
In the implementation phase, by leveraging diverse design expertise, various industry experiences, and design management capabilities that freely combine these essences, they land complex design solutions as simple, harmonious, and powerful outcomes.
Established in 1972.
URL: https://www.gk-kyoto.com