Ikko Effect

The power of an endorsement from Ikko – a cross-dressing Japanese celebrity.

Japan’s most popular transvestite was recently made an honorary ambassador by the Korean Tourism Organization (K.T.O.). The Korea Heraldsaid the appointment recognized the “entertainer’s promotion of Korean culture in Japan,” and quoted a K.T.O. official as saying:

The boom in trips to Korea among the Japanese is partly thanks to the strong yen against the won, but partly due to Ikko’s promotion of Korea.

Reporting on Ikko’s appointment, The Chosun Ilbo noted:

Ikko is a versatile entertainer whose professional pursuits range from makeup and hair to singing and presenting. Whatever he mentions becomes a bestseller the next day. So influential is he in the Japanese fashion and beauty industry that the term “Ikko effect” has been coined. After he introduced Korea’s blemish balm on a talk show, Japanese tourists in Korea bought over 3,000 tubes of the cream a day.

It would appear that the K.T.O. hopes Ikko can do for Korea’s tourism industry what he did for zit remedies.