EDITORIALS
doto," a guidebook for East Hokkaido, wins the Grand Prize at the Japan Local Information Contents Awards 2020
The moment the ".doto" production staff received the award
DotDoto, a group of freelance creators based in the East Hokkaido region of Tokachi, Kushiro, and Okhotsk, used crowdfunding from the production stage to create .doto, an unofficial guidebook for the East Hokkaido region published in June 2020. The project received support from over 3.3 million yen and approximately 400 people.
In addition, 48 people applied for the "Production Assistance Plan" to join the Dot-Doto creators in the production of the book, making the book a topic of conversation as it was produced by many volunteers.
After publication, the first 5,000 copies sold out in about a month. The total number of copies published exceeded 10,000, and the book is now being used to convey the new charms of the East Hokkaido region.
".doto" won the Grand Prize in the Regional Development Category of the Japan Regional Information Contents Awards 2020
The Japan Local Information Contents Awards (formerly the Japan Town Magazine and Free Paper Awards) is an event in which entries from town magazines, free papers, websites, and videos from all over Japan are judged from a variety of perspectives, including magazine quality and reader support, and highly rated media are selected and awarded. After an application period from this summer to fall, ".doto" was nominated in the local development and business categories, and from September 25, readers were able to vote for the media they would like to support.
In accepting the award, Mr. Kazumori Nozawa of .doto commented on the award.
Dot-Doto members. From left: Kazumori Nozawa (Obihiro City), Chihiro Nazuka (Kushiro City), Takuro Nakanishi (Kitami City), Kashiko Sudo (Kushiro City), Asami Jinguashi (Taiki Town)
Photo: Keisuke Harada https://www.instagram.com/inakaworks/[ /caption]
We are very happy to receive this award. This guidebook was produced with the involvement of many more people than I had imagined. I realize that it is thanks to the readers and the production members who got involved that we were able to receive this award.
Recently, more and more people have been saying to me, "Doto is getting more and more exciting. I would like to continue to do what I can do, believing that even small actions by each of us will improve the lives of the community in which we live. （Kazumori Nozawa)
The ".doto" project is full of passion and enthusiasm for communicating the charms of one's own community, and is likely to become a cornerstone for the future of the East Hokkaido region.
