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"A town so cool it's almost funny": A poster expressing the coolness of Kushiro, Hokkaido, is so brilliant it's become a hot topic. "Is your thermometer broken?"
The average summer temperature is 22°C!? An excellent poster for a "too cool town"
Have you ever seen a picture like this? It's impressive how extremely cool Kushiro is.
The poster depicts a weather forecast in which the maximum temperature across the country exceeds 30°C, while Kushiro alone is below 20°C. It also includes the message, "Sorry, I can't go home now." This image appears to be a reproduction of the actual weather and temperatures on August 8, 2023, but looking at it, you can see that Kushiro is by far the coldest place.
The catchphrase and poster visuals were created by Dot Doto, a group of creators from the eastern Hokkaido region. The posters were produced as part of a PR campaign for "Kushiro City, where temperatures are overwhelmingly cool in the summer," and a total of 18 different posters were created. All of them contain content that will resonate with anyone familiar with the coolness of Kushiro.
Furthermore, this poster won the top prize at the SCC Awards 2025, which honors Hokkaido-themed advertisements and their creators. We spoke to Nazuka Chihiro of Dot Doto, who actually worked on the production, about how it came to be made.
"A copy that is not exaggerated, but that locals can naturally say with affection."
Chihiro Nazuka of Dot Doto, who created the poster
This project began when the Kushiro Chamber of Commerce and Industry approached us with a request to "promote Kushiro's coolness." While the fact that it's "cool even in summer" has long been known, it was difficult to communicate this fact. For the people of Kushiro, cool summers are not necessarily a positive thing, and the reality is that many people wish the temperature would rise a bit more so that it felt more like summer. I myself have been living in Kushiro for almost 10 years now, and at first I found it difficult to accept the chilly summers.
On the other hand, I often heard locals laughing and saying things like, "Kushiro is the only place where the weather forecast predicts abnormally low temperatures, and people are calling to ask if their thermometers are broken." Although they long for a more summery climate, they are also aware of Kushiro's uniqueness, and even though they spoke self-deprecatingly, they seemed to feel a bit of pride in it.
That's why we felt we needed a copy that was "not exaggerated, but that locals could say naturally and with affection." The phrase "Kushiro, a town so cool it's funny" embodies this sense of distance and emotion.
We also have members who moved from Honshu and others who live in the Kansai region, and their suggestions about "things that surprised me when I came to Kushiro" and "what's interesting about Kushiro" from a slightly more detached perspective had a major influence on the creation of this copy. What we value most of all are the casual words and behavior of locals and tourists. We believe that it is there that we can find the essence of Kushiro and the seeds for our next copy.
I want to inspire pride in Kushiro residents and make it interesting for people from outside. I try to find that balance every day and look for stories of "Kushiro things."
Creating a "special day in Eastern Hokkaido"! Dot Eastern Hokkaido's tireless challenge
Dot Doto is currently running a crowdfunding campaign to create "DOTO FUN," an annual "special day in Eastern Hokkaido." They also plan to publish ".doto EXTRA," an expanded and revised version of ".doto vol.1," published in 2020 as the "unofficial guidebook to Eastern Hokkaido."
The poster was born from a deep exploration of what makes Kushiro unique, based on the perspectives of both locals and tourists, and it is one that could only have been created by Dot Doto, a company with deep roots in the eastern Hokkaido region. Dot Doto's challenges continue, including hosting "DOTO FUN."
Interview cooperation and image provided by: Dot Doto General Incorporated Association ■X: @dot_doto_yuchi ■Instagram: @dotdoto_official ■ Click here for the crowdfunding campaign "We want to hold a festival called 'DOTO FUN' with 1,000 people to create a special day in Eastern Hokkaido!"
