Behold, it is Ryu, now in bronze, reserved for an eternity of admiration. And he's here, in Kashihara, part of a collaboration between the city and Capcom, the company that produced the Street Fighter video game series. From the web site:
Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) today announced that it entered into a Comprehensive Agreement to Promote the Vitalization of the Local Economy with Kashihara City (Nara Prefecture) on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, under which it will utilize its popular Street Fighter series with the aim of bolstering tourism and other local revitalization efforts.
Capcom supports regional revitalization efforts throughout Japan by leveraging the power of its brands to engage people in four areas: Economic Development, Cultural Awareness, Prevention Education and Election Participation. The company has carried out various activities since 2009, such as concluding the first comprehensive agreement between a video game company and a local government body, collaborating with police in a number of prefectures on prevention activities, and working to raise awareness of gubernatorial elections.
That's the official story. There may be more to it. Last year, I started seeing these posters everywhere at the various junior high schools where I work:
One of the teachers I worked with is married to a guy who works at Capcom so I asked her about it. She said that one of the creators of Street Fighter is from Kashihara. So I guess, in a sense, this really is Ryu's hometown. お邪魔します、リュウ先生！ It's cool and I am a Street Fighter fan but, of course, I always used Chun-li. In addition to the fact that she's better looking, she also has that really useful downward kick and the ability to bat-jump off the side of the screen. True, she was vulnerable to uppercuts but that downward kick was a lot easier to pull off than any of the uppercut moves so I generally didn't have to worry about them if I was fighting against a human opponent.
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