The word moe (mo-eh) is written with a kanji that means “sprout,” but it’s meaning is a bit difficult to pin down, essentially being translatable as “the warm feeling you get looking at your favorite super-cute anime character.” As the moe anime genre takes over Japan completely it’s appearing in some surprising places, like the Moe Diet Book, the Moe Guide to Investing in Stocks, and my personal favorite, Moe Particle Physics, in which a cute cat-girl explains electrons, neutrons and quarks in easy-to-understand language. Now a “Hello Work” (municipal employment office) located near Nagoya has gotten into the act, creating an “image character” called Miruku (Milk) Chita aimed at inspiring Japan’s otaku and NEETs (Not involved in Education, Employment or Training) to get out and find jobs. While you could say that the government is being smart by shaping its message so that it will reach the young people of today, it’s possible to look at things in a more cynical light: that they desperately want to get the country’s anime-obsessed youths into jobs that generate taxable income to help support the ever-graying population.
Milk-chan is going to help Japan’s NEETs get a job.
