船内が“白銀ノエル”一色に　ホーバークラフトで特別コラボ始まる

The ship is completely decorated with "Shirogane Noel"! A collaboration project with the popular VTuber began on the 1st. This collaboration project primarily features special decorations inside the ship. ■Announcer Yusuke Eto: "Above the windows where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery, there are illustrations of Shirogane Noel. And she's right in front of you too! If you look at the ship from the back, it's truly all Shirogane Noel!" On the second ship, "Banri," which has the most decorations, 16 illustrations are placed above the windows and 72 illustrations are placed on the seat headrests. Shirogane Noel, dressed in a hovercraft captain's uniform specially drawn for this project, greets passengers. Furthermore, upon arrival, Shirogane will appear on the ship's monitors and welcome passengers with a special video. Fans who traveled from outside the prefecture reacted to this performance as follows: ■Fan: "It felt like 'Commander Noel!', it was irresistible for fans." "There were so many Commanders (Shirogane Noel's nickname), I felt like I was being treated to a special welcome." There was also a project where fans could write messages of support, and there's a possibility they might be featured in her live streams. ■Oita Daiichi Hover Drive President Norifumi Oda: "The only ship Captain Noel operates is a hovercraft. We want all the fans to ride it." Many fans visited this collaboration from the very first day. We'll tell you about the "unexpected connection" that linked Shirogane Noel to Oita. Shirogane Noel is a virtual YouTuber who looks like this. She has 2.04 million subscribers and 440 million total views. She's popular for her game commentary, talk shows, and songs. It turns out that Shirogane-san actually has a connection to Oita. In her backstory, she grew up in a virtual Oita that resembles Oita Prefecture, although she was born in Nagasaki and is considered to be from Oita. In a November 2025 broadcast, Shirogane-san spoke about hovercrafts like this: "Only Oita in Japan!? That's amazing. It's worth going to Oita just to ride a hovercraft!" Furthermore, Shirogane Noel's "love for Oita" is also evident in her broadcasting activities. She creates and broadcasts songs about Oita. The music videos, which feature tourist spots and local cuisine in the prefecture, even feature Governor Sato. In addition, immediately after the large-scale fire in Saganoseki, she made this announcement: "I will donate the entire amount of tips, that is, money donated by viewers, to Saganoseki." In that broadcast, she talked about the charms of Saganoseki for 20 minutes, saying things like, "I love kurome (a type of seaweed)," and "Seki-aji (horse mackerel) and Seki-saba (mackerel) are delicious." Shirogane Noel has the backstory of being "raised in Oita." It will be interesting to see how they will contribute to revitalizing Oita in the future.