Role and Potential of Comedians/Entertainers as Social Entrepreneurs Who Activate Local Communities

Japan continues to confront population decline and aging and ranks low in terms of individual social entrepreneurship. Yoshimoto Kogyo, a leading Japanese entertainment company, launched a project dispatching comedians/entertainers and staff to 47 Japanese prefectures to activate local community collaboration and support various social entrepreneurial activities. This project aims to improve residents’ quality of life and alleviate social and economic challenges. This study frames the project as a case study and investigates the role and potential of comedians/entertainers as social entrepreneurs who can activate local communities. This study surveys the people involved with the project and examines characteristics and roles of comedians/entertainers as social entrepreneurs. Furthermore, this study discusses comedians’/entertainers’ potential as social entrepreneurs and their future prospects by analyzing the effect of the tools used to promote social entrepreneurship. The results indicate that comedians/entertainers residing in their local areas have significant potential to be social entrepreneurs, despite the project being relatively unknown. Finally, this study found that when this project is introduced through a promotional video and song, peoples’ interests, support, and involvement in the projects increase.