人口最少的縣，靠一個戴眼鏡的小學生出名
鳥取是日本人口最少的縣。這個縣的外籍遊客成長率，卻一度排到全日本第一，台灣直飛的旅客也一路增加。報導把原因歸給兩件事：《名偵探柯南》的號召力，加上米子機場的國際航線擴張。
一張機票負責把人送到，一個角色負責讓人想去。兩樣少一樣都不行，但只有後者能被畫在牆上、印在車廂裡、貼在路燈上。畫圖的人看得很清楚：城市行銷最缺的往往是一張辨識度夠高的臉，景點倒在其次。鳥取有兩張，鬼太郎和柯南，都出自這片土地，「漫畫王國」四個字就蓋在上面。
9月19日，內田浩二來到台中
9月19日，台中市政府新聞局與鳥取縣觀光交流局漫畫王國官房簽下合作共識。漫畫王國官房長內田浩二親自到台中拜會，由新聞局專門委員張智瑋接待。桌上談的是漫畫競賽的辦法和創作人才的培育，結論是雙方的賽事以後互相宣傳、資源互助。
時間點有講究。台中與鳥取締盟剛好八週年。2018年兩邊簽過友好交流協定，也合辦過「漫畫王國鳥取國際漫畫競賽」。這回的簽署是八年框架上再加一層，談不上突然冒出來的新交情。
台中手上的新東西是2026年首度舉辦的「台中原創短漫大賽」，總獎金10萬元。10萬元養不起一個產業，頂多讓幾個人把稿子畫完、交出去。但比賽辦起來，就有了截止日、評審、得獎作品，也有了日本那邊可以轉貼的一則消息。
兩座城市的落差，畫在同一張紙上
鳥取的做法是先有作品，再有品牌。柯南和鬼太郎在城市之外已經家喻戶曉，縣府只需要把「故鄉」兩個字釘牢。台中的順序反過來：先辦賽事，找創作者，等著看有沒有哪個角色長得出來。前者收割，後者播種，兩邊的季節差了幾十年。
台中並非沒做過IP。20公尺高的巨型Moomin曾在台中國際會議展示中心展出，由市府、芬蘭貿易中心與地方產業共同推動；台東國際熱氣球節也和Chiikawa首度跨境合作。這些都是借來的臉，借得漂亮，展期一過就得還。原創短漫大賽要押的是另一種東西：本地人畫的、帶著本地街景的角色，哪天紅了，不必還給任何人。
文策院談台灣原創IP出海時，也說要從角色圖像走向世界觀。一隻可愛的貓不夠，還得有它住的街、吃的東西、討厭的鄰居。短篇漫畫剛好是最便宜的世界觀試驗場，二十幾頁，就能把一條巷子畫成一個地方。
鳥取還沒做完的功課，台中得從頭開始
鳥取的路徑也不是複製貼上就能走。柯南能帶動觀光，靠的是作品本身先紅，再加上機場、航線，把人運得進來。少了交通那一環，聖地只是地圖上的一個點。台中有港有機場，漫畫卻還沒有一個能被指認的角色。
所以這份合作共識真正的價值，大概落在那句「資源互助」：讓台中的新人作品有機會被鳥取那邊看到，讓八年累積的比賽經驗不必重新摸索。能不能產出下一個柯南，沒人說得準。
第一屆「台中原創短漫大賽」的稿件，要等2026年賽事開跑後才會陸續收進來。總獎金10萬元，名額有限，畫得出一張讓人記住的臉的人，也許只需要一位。
— 蔡子涵
A City Needs a Face That Can Be Drawn
The least populated prefecture, put on the map by a kid in glasses
Tottori is Japan’s least populated prefecture. Its growth rate in foreign visitors has still ranked first nationwide, with more direct flights bringing in travelers from Taiwan. The reported reasons are two: the pull of Detective Conan, and expanded international routes at Yonago Airport.
A ticket gets travelers there. A character makes them want to go. Neither works alone, but only the character can be painted on a wall, printed on a train car, stuck on a lamppost. Anyone who draws for a living sees it quickly: what a city lacks is rarely scenery. A face that reads at a glance is the missing piece. Tottori has two, Kitaro and Conan, both from this land, with the words “Manga Kingdom” stamped across them.
September 19, Koji Uchida comes to Taichung
On September 19, the Taichung City Government’s Information Bureau signed a cooperation agreement with the Manga Kingdom office of Tottori Prefecture’s tourism exchange bureau. The office’s head, Koji Uchida, visited Taichung in person and was received by Zhang Zhiwei, a commissioner at the Information Bureau. The table talk covered manga competition experience and nurturing creators. The outcome: each side will promote the other’s contests and share resources.
The timing matters. Taichung and Tottori are marking eight years as sister cities. An exchange agreement was signed in 2018, along with a jointly run “Manga Kingdom Tottori International Manga Competition.” This signing adds a layer on an eight-year-old frame; it is not a sudden new friendship.
What Taichung brings is new: the first “Taichung Original Short Manga Contest” in 2026, with a total prize pool of NT$100,000. That sum cannot sustain an industry. It can help a few creators finish their pages and hand them in. But once a contest exists, there is a deadline, a jury, winning entries, and a news item the Japanese side can repost.
Two cities, drawn on the same sheet of paper
Tottori worked in one order: works first, brand second. Conan and Kitaro were already household names beyond the prefecture, so the job was to nail down the word “hometown.” Taichung runs the sequence in reverse: hold a contest, find the creators, wait and see which character grows. One harvests, the other sows, and the seasons are decades apart.
Taichung has handled IP before. A 20-meter-tall Moomin was shown at the Taichung International Convention & Exhibition Center, pushed by the city, the Finland Trade Center and local industry, and Chiikawa made its first cross-border collaboration with the Taitung International Balloon Festival. Those are borrowed faces, nicely borrowed, and they go back when the run ends. The short manga contest bets on something else: characters drawn by locals, carrying local streets, which owe nothing to anyone if they catch on.
Taiwan’s culture agency has talked about moving original IP from character images to worldbuilding. A cute cat is not enough. A street to live on, food to eat, a neighbor to dislike are all required. A short manga is the cheapest worldbuilding lab around: twenty-odd pages can turn one alley into a place.
Homework Tottori has done, and Taichung must start from zero
Tottori’s path cannot be copied and pasted. Conan lifts tourism because the work was a hit first, then airports and routes carried the crowds in. Without transport, a pilgrimage site is only a dot on a map. Taichung has the airport and the port. A character anyone can point to is still absent from its manga.
So the real value of this agreement probably sits in the phrase “resource sharing”: giving new Taichung work a chance to be seen on the Tottori side, and sparing the contest from re-learning what eight years of experience already taught. Whether it yields the next Conan, nobody can say.
Entries for the first Taichung Original Short Manga Contest come in once the 2026 contest opens. The total prize is NT$100,000, with limited slots. The creator who can draw one face worth remembering may only need one of them.
— 蔡子涵
延伸閱讀
https://justfly.idv.tw/s/6neWQo1