Photo/Illutration A targeted video ad featuring Masaru Koga, the protagonist of “Kyoto-Fukei Ayakashi-ka no Jikenbo,” is shown at the Kyoto prefectural police headquarters on July 3. (Keitaro Nishizaki)

KYOTO--It doesn’t take a detective to figure out that Kyoto prefectural police appointed a fictional character as part of its recruitment campaign.

Masaru Koga, the protagonist in a popular novel series titled “Kyoto-Fukei Ayakashi-ka no Jikenbo” (The case book of the Kyoto prefectural police supernatural squad), has featured in its promotional videos since July.

The blurb says she is the first character from a novel to be involved in a recruitment drive organized by a prefectural police force in Japan.

The novel is the brainchild of Kyoto native Sayaka Tengeiji.

In the novel, Koga is a rookie member of “Ayakashi-ka” (supernatural division), a special unit at the prefectural police tasked with cases involving Shintoism and Buddhism, as well as spirits, monsters and other supernatural phenomena. She solves cases without being noticed.

Illustrations of Koga from the novel feature in video advertising produced by the prefectural police that is directed at specific internet users based on their traits and search habits.

Kyoto police, noting that competition to sit the exam for entry into the police force has fallen in recent years, said the video is intended to show people that law and order can be rewarding work.

On July 3, an on-screen Koga received a letter of appointment from Kenji Arima, who heads the administration department of the prefectural police, at police headquarters in Kyoto.

“It’s really wonderful if I can help increase the number of people who will be working with me to protect Kyoto, a town that I love,” she said. “I’ll do my best.”

Also featured in the videos are scenes of the famed Gion Festival and the iconic Kamogawa river to promote the charms of the ancient capital and some of the perks of being a police officer.

“It’s the kind of job that will continue to be needed no matter how advanced technological development becomes, and even if a new world is created,” Koga says in one video.

Tengeiji, who also attended the ceremony, was happy for Koga.

“I created her as a fictional character, but I’m grateful that the prefectural police accepted her in real life,” she said. “It made me feel Masaru is no longer mine only.”

The competitive ratio for the prefectural police employment exam was 5.9 in fiscal 2019.

The figure dropped to 4.4 in fiscal 2022.

In March, the prefectural police also hosted an employment information session in the metaverse as part of its efforts to use unconventional means to raise the number of applicants.

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