In 1987, CAPCOM introduced video games to the world with the fighting game Street Fighter. Although it achieved some success, it was not until the release of the sequel Street Fighter II in 1991 that the series truly took off. Since then, the franchise has gone on to spawn four more sequels, countless spin-offs, cross-plays, and almost anything else you can think of.
Image via www.city.kashihara.nara.jp
©CAPCOM COMPANY LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Although the face of the series is said to be the character Ryu, the most popular character among fans is the female character Chun-Li. That same Chun-Li is now immortalized as a bronze statue in the city of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture. But why Kashihara city? Well, it's the hometown of CAPCOM founder Kenzo Tsujimoto.
いや、やはりカッコいい。ひょっとして 「春麗(チュンリー)」が難敵を倒したときの決めポーズでしょうか。
朝日新聞デジタル https://t.co/bQQ3mp czpT pic.twitter.com/TJgLxt4BWk— 朝日新聞奈良総局 (@asahi_naraken) March 9, 2024
According to NHK, the statue of Chun-Li was erected in front of the Kashihara City Hall Branch Office on March 9. The Kashihara City homepage advertised the free event starting on February 27 and including activities (rough translation):
rent Unveiling the statue of Chun-Li
© Revealing the Street Fighter manhole cover, an illustration that kids can color and turn into a badge
Street Fighter character display panels revealed
→ Street Fighter II and VI game corner
→ Demo of the planned Kashihara Excursion App
→ Free original Street Fighter stickers
© Performance of Japanese High School Kashihara Martial Arts Club
The statue itself is 70 cm (about 28 inches) tall, or 150 cm (about 59 inches) including the base. and features Chun-Li in her iconic pre- and post-battle poses. The Kashihara City homepage also states that the project was crowdfunded and requires nearly 5.5 million yen (about 37,000 USD) to complete. This is the second Street Fighter statue to be erected in the City, with a Ryu statue revealed in May 2023 and planned by Edmond Honda (E. Honda) and Ken (not this writer) future installation.
The city is also running the Street Fighter cooperative school lunch menu. While the Chun-Li lunch was served on January 26, students in the Kashihara school district enjoyed the final cooperative lunch of the past school year, the Guile lunch, on March 8. The City's Twitter revealed the American-themed lunch and it included sandwiches, hamburger steak, fries, soup and milk. The meal looked appetizing, although a bit stereotypical.
今年度最後となる #ストリートファイター との学校給食コラボ献立は 「ガイルのハンバーガー」でした!
ガイYou can do it by usingポテト????にしました。
半年に渡った学校給食コラボ献立にたくさんの いいね❤️い ま し た! pic.twitter.com/Uoj2WJdcKY
— 奈良県橿原市(公式) (@kashihara_city) March 8, 2024
The final school lunch collaboration menu with #ストリートファイター this school year is”Guile's Hamburger”!
Since Guile is from America and is a member of the United States Air Force, we chose America's national dish, hamburgers ???? and fries ????.
Thank you so much so much to everyone who liked ❤ for the half-year long school lunch collaboration menu!
今月の #ストリートファイター との学校給食コラボ献立は 「チュンリーの春巻き」でした!
チュンリー(春麗)は中国出身で、名前に 「春」が入っていることにちなんで春巻きです。
春巻きは給食の人気メニューで、今回は奈良県産の小松菜が入った特別Verです✨みなさんの献立予想は当たりましたか? pic.twitter.com/4Qj5Bs5VjR
— 奈良県橿原市(公式 (@kashihara_city) January 26, 2024
Collaborative menu for this month's school lunches with #ストリートファイター [Street Fighter] is”Chun-Li Spring Rolls”!
Since Chun-Li, who is from China, has the word “spring” in her name, we made spring rolls.
Spring rolls are a popular school lunch menu and this time they are a special version that includes Komatsuna mustard spinach from Nara Prefecture ✨Did your menu prediction come true?
Kashihara City is about an hour from Nara City and Osaka City. So if you're a CAPCOM fan who wants to see Chun-Li's new statue and are in the area, why not head over to Kashihara City to check it out.
Source: Kashihara City website (link 2), X/Twitter account (link 2), NHK