Tokyo's Gyaru Revitalize Gotemba?! Tokyo High School Girls x Gotemba High School Girls Rediscover Local Charms from a Youth Perspective
The "#LocalGap Town Revitalization Project" executive committee has launched a project connecting high school students from Tokyo and regional areas to rediscover and promote local charms. In its first phase, students from BLEA Gakuen Girls' High School in Tokyo will visit Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture, to interact with students from Gotemba High School, discovering local attractions through a youth lens and disseminating information via social media and videos.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 3, 2026 at 21:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 3, 2026 at 12:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 3, 2026 at 12:36 (4 min after Collected)
The "#LocalGap Town Revitalization Project" executive committee has launched a project aimed at making Japan more interesting and vibrant in 10 years by bringing together high school students with vastly different values from Tokyo and regional areas, and generating a new future through their "chemical reactions."
The first phase is titled "Tokyo Gyaru to Change Gotemba?"
[Date] May 10 (Sunday) 9:30 AM - 7:30 PM
Students from BLEA Gakuen Girls' High School in Meguro-ku, Tokyo, will visit Gotemba High School in Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture. High school girls living in seemingly entirely different worlds will meet, clash their values, and rediscover Gotemba's attractions in "the language of today's era."
Examples of experience contents:
- First meeting of Tokyo JK x Gotemba JK (JK = Joshi Kosei, high school girl)
- Tea picking at Katsumata Seicha
- Lunch at Jihoubo
- Authentic local experiences such as strawberry picking and mini-tomato harvesting at Serizawa Marche
- SNS hashtag planning (e.g., #LocalGap)
- Video production and dissemination set in Gotemba
- Presentation of results at Kyotenba, etc.
*A characteristic of this project is that it doesn't just end with the experience, but also includes dissemination.
Katsumata Seicha
Serizawa Marche
[What is BLEA Gakuen?]
BLEA Gakuen is a school that develops "ready-to-work professionals" in collaboration with the beauty, childcare, entertainment, and apparel industries. With the concept of "LOVE YOURSELF MORE! ~Love yourself more~", it aims to help each student affirm their own worth and potential, and maximize that potential. Five third-year high school students are participating in this project.
BLEA Gakuen
BLEA Gakuen
[What is Gotemba High School?]
Shizuoka Prefectural Gotemba High School, located in Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture. It is known as a core high school in the region for its school life that utilizes the natural environment at the foot of Mt. Fuji, and for its achievements in both club activities and career guidance. Five third-year high school students are participating in this project.
[Background of the Project]
The purpose of this project is not merely an exchange.
1. To re-edit and disseminate the charm of local areas from a youth perspective.
2. To broaden the horizons and future choices of high school students through extraordinary experiences.
Local areas have charm. But it's "not being communicated." Urban areas have power to disseminate information. But "real experiences" are lacking. We are convinced that new value will be created when these two are combined.
(Initiation)
The project began when local volunteers eager to spread the charm of Gotemba and a team planning new content businesses based in Shibuya met and hit it off in 2025. Key keywords that emerged for the project were "disseminating Gotemba's charm," "connecting urban and rural areas," and "learning." This project was pursued and arrived at, taking these keywords into account, to bring new感動 (inspiration/emotion) and experiences to everyone involved.
[Future Developments]
* May 2026: First phase held:
BLEA Gakuen Girls' High School students visit Gotemba - First meeting with Gotemba High School students.
* From Summer 2026 onwards (under adjustment):
Gotemba high school girls are scheduled to visit Tokyo, learn beauty and makeup at BLEA Gakuen, and tour "the places they most want to visit now," such as Shin-Okubo. *Currently, the students' experiences are planned to be streamed on YouTube. This will be developed as a new form of "local revitalization x Gen Z x real experience."
[#LocalGap Town Revitalization Project Executive Committee]
Yutaro Suzuki
Representative Director, UTR Corporation
Promotes corporate consulting and public-private partnership projects. Also engaged in regional activities as a member of the Gotemba Junior Chamber International. Vision: "Make Gotemba a town full of challenges." Actively disseminating Gotemba's charm on social media.
Maki Aikawa
Representative Director, Felice Co., Ltd.
As a broadcast writer, involved in a wide range of programs including news, information, and variety shows. Specializes in thinking "how to convey things interestingly" and "how to move people's hearts," and leverages experience gained from planning and structuring TV programs to develop projects in various fields such as PR, video production, events, education, beauty, and entertainment.
Shinji Mori
Born in Okayama Prefecture. Engaged in regional collaboration and project development at a Shibuya-based company. Focusing on regional revitalization, he works on waste material utilization and welfare issues, planning and promoting projects that connect urban and rural areas.
Hazuki Kumada
As a writer and content producer, she handles article writing for media, PR, and event planning.
*For inquiries regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us for interviews, etc.
[Contact for this matter]
Public Relations, Hazuki Kumada
kumada.hazuki@gmail.com
The first phase is titled "Tokyo Gyaru to Change Gotemba?"
[Date] May 10 (Sunday) 9:30 AM - 7:30 PM
Students from BLEA Gakuen Girls' High School in Meguro-ku, Tokyo, will visit Gotemba High School in Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture. High school girls living in seemingly entirely different worlds will meet, clash their values, and rediscover Gotemba's attractions in "the language of today's era."
Examples of experience contents:
- First meeting of Tokyo JK x Gotemba JK (JK = Joshi Kosei, high school girl)
- Tea picking at Katsumata Seicha
- Lunch at Jihoubo
- Authentic local experiences such as strawberry picking and mini-tomato harvesting at Serizawa Marche
- SNS hashtag planning (e.g., #LocalGap)
- Video production and dissemination set in Gotemba
- Presentation of results at Kyotenba, etc.
*A characteristic of this project is that it doesn't just end with the experience, but also includes dissemination.
Katsumata Seicha
Serizawa Marche
[What is BLEA Gakuen?]
BLEA Gakuen is a school that develops "ready-to-work professionals" in collaboration with the beauty, childcare, entertainment, and apparel industries. With the concept of "LOVE YOURSELF MORE! ~Love yourself more~", it aims to help each student affirm their own worth and potential, and maximize that potential. Five third-year high school students are participating in this project.
BLEA Gakuen
BLEA Gakuen
[What is Gotemba High School?]
Shizuoka Prefectural Gotemba High School, located in Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture. It is known as a core high school in the region for its school life that utilizes the natural environment at the foot of Mt. Fuji, and for its achievements in both club activities and career guidance. Five third-year high school students are participating in this project.
[Background of the Project]
The purpose of this project is not merely an exchange.
1. To re-edit and disseminate the charm of local areas from a youth perspective.
2. To broaden the horizons and future choices of high school students through extraordinary experiences.
Local areas have charm. But it's "not being communicated." Urban areas have power to disseminate information. But "real experiences" are lacking. We are convinced that new value will be created when these two are combined.
(Initiation)
The project began when local volunteers eager to spread the charm of Gotemba and a team planning new content businesses based in Shibuya met and hit it off in 2025. Key keywords that emerged for the project were "disseminating Gotemba's charm," "connecting urban and rural areas," and "learning." This project was pursued and arrived at, taking these keywords into account, to bring new感動 (inspiration/emotion) and experiences to everyone involved.
[Future Developments]
* May 2026: First phase held:
BLEA Gakuen Girls' High School students visit Gotemba - First meeting with Gotemba High School students.
* From Summer 2026 onwards (under adjustment):
Gotemba high school girls are scheduled to visit Tokyo, learn beauty and makeup at BLEA Gakuen, and tour "the places they most want to visit now," such as Shin-Okubo. *Currently, the students' experiences are planned to be streamed on YouTube. This will be developed as a new form of "local revitalization x Gen Z x real experience."
[#LocalGap Town Revitalization Project Executive Committee]
Yutaro Suzuki
Representative Director, UTR Corporation
Promotes corporate consulting and public-private partnership projects. Also engaged in regional activities as a member of the Gotemba Junior Chamber International. Vision: "Make Gotemba a town full of challenges." Actively disseminating Gotemba's charm on social media.
Maki Aikawa
Representative Director, Felice Co., Ltd.
As a broadcast writer, involved in a wide range of programs including news, information, and variety shows. Specializes in thinking "how to convey things interestingly" and "how to move people's hearts," and leverages experience gained from planning and structuring TV programs to develop projects in various fields such as PR, video production, events, education, beauty, and entertainment.
Shinji Mori
Born in Okayama Prefecture. Engaged in regional collaboration and project development at a Shibuya-based company. Focusing on regional revitalization, he works on waste material utilization and welfare issues, planning and promoting projects that connect urban and rural areas.
Hazuki Kumada
As a writer and content producer, she handles article writing for media, PR, and event planning.
*For inquiries regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us for interviews, etc.
[Contact for this matter]
Public Relations, Hazuki Kumada
kumada.hazuki@gmail.com