At the request of Fuji Soba (Japan’s largest soba restaurant chain) and 230 Soba Street Promotion Committee (Soba restaurant association), we developed Soba Allergy Tattoo Checker, a sticker for an easy and fun allergy test. The sticker design is in the motif of Ukiyoe (Japanese woodblock prints) attractive to foreigners. When applying the sticker to the skin, if there is an allergic reaction, a part of the design flares up in color. Allergy tests are not something that is particularly exciting, however, the Allergy Tattoo Checker added an entertainment element to it, making soba allergy testing a memorable and enjoyable travel experience.

The Soba Allergy Tattoo Checker uses a commonly used allergy test method; the skin prick test. After placing the sticker on the skin, Soba-yu (residual water collected after boiling Soba) is glazed over. As well as acting as the glue, this Soba-yu also acts as allergen. Certain parts of the tattoo design are intentionally made transparent, so when there is an allergic reaction, the redness of the skin shows through, as if the design flared up in color. There are 7 different designs available and these original designs adopt a Ukiyoe-style (Japanese woodblock prints) that resemble traditional Japanese artwork which tends to attract tourists. To further activate this idea, we offered real experiences of the sticker by launching allergy test events. We intended to generate buzz and focused on popular areas for foreign tourists; a ski resort in Hokkaido and a district of a well-known temple in Tokyo.

News on this activation immediately spread nationwide and overseas, gaining over 4 million Reach only on social media. More than 300 media vehicles featured this topic, including online news, blogs, newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programs. Surprisingly, it also gained over 20 million Media Impressions within a month. Many different categories of media covered this activation including those for travelers, foreigners living in Japan, food, cooking, medical, design, and entertainment for the young to science, creating a huge buzz across many people including foreign tourists. Following this outcome, our client conducted an in-store research which projected a great improvement in awareness of Soba allergy among foreign tourists, growing from 2% to 33%.