Each November I head to Hanyu City in Saitama to attend the “World Character Summit”, a sort of Comic Con for Japanese mascots, where 150 or so of them sell merchandise from booths, pose for pictures, and dance to their theme songs on stage. Here are some of the yuru-chara I encountered:
In Japan, pharmaceutical companies almost always have mascots, so this weekend I went to the Japan Drugstore Show, a giant pharmaceutical trade show in the cavernous convention centre Tokyo Big Sight, in the hope of catching sight of a few cuddly characters. I was not disappointed!
Kero-chan and Koro-chan, the frog mascots for Kowa Pharmaceuticals since 2008, were present. Statues of these amiable amphibians can be spotted in pharmacies around the country. Kowa have always had a frog mascot of some kind since one first appeared on boxes of their hives medication in 1949.
I also ran into a big white cat called NECO, the mascot for Hakugen Earth dehumidifiers.
Ohta Inyan, the blue-haired cat mascot for the gastrointestinal medicine Ohta Issan, was giving a presentation about the various ingredients of the famous antacid.
Sato-chan and Satoko-chan, the colourful elephant mascots of Sato Pharmaceuticals, were also at the Japan Drugstore Show.
Sato-chan (the orange one) has been around since 1961. There’s even a mini museum inside a pharmacy in Ginza, Tokyo, dedicated to the pachyderm pair. It’s worth a visit, if you’re in the neighbourhood.
I had another encounter with pharmaceutical mascots last Autumn, at Kanda Myojin Shrine, where the mascots gather once a year to pray for people’s health.
One popular mascot at the shrine was Bin-kun. Bin-kun is a bottle of Yomeishu, a medicinal tonic (14% proof) for physical fatigue. Bin-kun was wearing a facemask despite not having a nose or mouth.
Kan-chan, a pink penguin girl who has the misfortune of being shaped like an enema, is the mascot for Ichijiku enemas. I was very pleased to snap a photo of a priest from the shrine posing with Kan-chan. A unique sight indeed!
I’m glad these mascots are out there rooting for everyone’s health, and I hope to meet them all again.
A couple of weeks ago I went to a big expo in Tokyo called Licensing Japan, where company representatives go to meet various costumed characters to possibly license for their businesses. The existence of a giant event for mascots to schmooze potential clients shows that such characters are big business in Japan. Getting in to the event required a certain amount of Ethan Hunt-style subterfuge — I had to pose as a fancy marketing executive in order to get an entry ticket and a name tag. It was worth it to see some mascots who don’t often appear in Tokyo, and to catch a drumming performance by the always great Nyango-Star, the drumming apple/cat from Aomori Prefecture. Here are some photos:
Spring is an eventful time of the year in my neighbourhood. When the cherry blossoms explode on the trees that line the river in Nakameguro, vendors are soon selling tasty delicacies from stalls, and the streets are bustling with revellers. Some popular mascots came out to play under the blossoms at the Meguro Sakura Festival, and I took some pictures:
A few weeks ago I ventured out to Nishi-Kokobunji, on the outskirts of Tokyo, to catch a rare appearance from the local mascot, Nishiko-kun, an armless, dancing character based an ancient roof tile excavated in the area. The enigmatic Nishiko-kun rarely comes to events in other parts of the city (but has managed to fly to other countries such as the UAE and France).
I was a bit late when I arrived at the Shinto temple where Nishiko-kun was set to appear, and there was nary a soul in sight on the grounds outside, so I sheepishly entered the temple through an unmanned side door. Inside, a couple of dozen people were sitting on pews, heads bowed in quiet contemplation, as two bald Buddhist monks in robes performed a religious ritual before them, involving chanting and banging a gong. I would have assumed I’d come to the wrong address, were it not for the fuzzy grey mascot sitting in the front row, silently observing the ritual. I quietly slipped into a vacant seat.
Once the ritual was over, we were treated to an impressively nimble dance performance by Nishiko-kun, followed by a meet and greet.
Somewhere on my journey home, I mislaid the flyer for the event, so I never did work out what the religious ritual was for, but it was a fascinating spectacle nonetheless.
Kapal (centre) at the Shiki City Festival
There was much excitement at Shiki City’s annual festival yesterday, thanks to the presence of local mascot, Kapal, who won Japan’s biggest mascot popularity poll (the Yuruchara Grand Prix) two weekends ago. Fans from around the country flocked to Shiki (a small commuter city in Saitama Prefecture, about an hour from Tokyo) to celebrate the eccentric green imp, who plays bass guitar in two different bands and always carries a cucumber with him, which he tries to force-feed to his fellow mascots, thirty of whom came along to the festival.
Kapal plays bass with GCB47
A kappa statue in Shiki City
The yearly Yuruchara Grand Prix poll attracted controversy last month when local government workers were caught paying for thousands of online votes for their mascots. Once the suspicious votes were deducted from the three mascots in the lead, Kapal leapt from fourth place to first, with 889,346 votes. This was a well-deserved outcome for long-serving mascot Kapal, who has entered the competition every year since 2013 and had announced that this year would be his last attempt.
Kapal is a kappa, a green goblin of lore with a beak, a turtle-like shell on its back, and a plate on its head. The ancient legend of the water-dwelling kappa is strongly associated with Shiki, a city through which three rivers pass, and more than twenty kappa statues can be found near the city’s station. As well as Kapal, three other kappa mascots joined the festivities in Shiki, and several other mascots celebrated Kapal’s recent victory by wearing kappa-style beaks or plates on their heads.
Honuppi, the Hawaiian turtle, with a kappa cap on his head
Udon Nou, a noodle-brained mascot from Kagawa Prefecture, is wearing a Kapal disguise.
QNosuke, from kasukabe City, is wearing a Kappa hat.
Kapal’s recent rise in popularity can be explained by his touring the country with Charamel, a heavy metal band fronted by Funassyi, a superstar pear fairy (and the unofficial mascot of Funabashi City, in Chiba Prefecture). Funassyi himself drew unprecedented crowds to the Shiki festival with an appearance a few years ago, but yesterday it was Kapal’s other band, GCB47, that was performing at the event. Alongside a human singer, GCB47 features Kapal on bass, Spanky (an unemployed dog from outer space) on guitar, Togoshi Ginjiro (a stray cat) on keyboards, and Nyajiro (another cat) on drums. GCB47’s first ever gig took place in Shiki in 2013, so their concerts in the city are always a special occasion. They performed several upbeat songs to the excited crowd, including a cover of Wham’s Last Christmas.
Kapal is given a special resident’s card by the Mayor.
A special guest who came to congratulate Kapal was mascot superstar Hikonyan, a fluffy white cat in a samurai helmet, who can be found most days on the grounds of Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture. The mayor of Shiki also appeared onstage to award Kapal with a special residents’ card. Kapal accepted it on the condition that he didn’t have to pay taxes. The mayor lamented that he wasn’t as popular as Kapal.
All in all, it was a glorious day for the friendly neighbourhood kappa.
Hikonyan and Kapal
Kouenji’s mascot Psyche Delhi-san takes on Tomato Ningen, the human/tomato slice.
Last month I went to a mascot event in Kouenji, a grungy corner of Tokyo known for its live music scene and second-hand clothes shops. Appropriately for the location, the mascots in attendance were mostly obscure or unofficial. The highlight of the day was a wrestling tournament held in front of the station, during which the furry characters battled each other with amusingly clumsy and uncoordinated piledrivers and chokeslams.
Today I caught a rare appearance by Adachin, a blue and white Japanese Chin dog and the unofficial mascot of Tokyo’s Adachi Ward.
Adachin has an interesting backstory. He was originally conceived of in 2007 as a character for promoting arts and culture in Adachi, and was designed by Jun Aoki, an animator on the cult anime, Pop Team Epic. However, a newly elected mayor cancelled the plan, so Adachin was left a masterless mascot and now identifies as a stray dog. These days, Adachin sells T-shirts and other merchandise online with slogans like, “The mayor hated me,” and, “I got fired.”
Today, Adachin was in his hometown of Adachi Ward, attending a craft market held in the P-kun Cafe, an establishment themed around another character, P-kun, who is the yellow mascot of the P Ark chain of pachinko parlours and looks like Pac-Man with a nose and body.
It was great to finally see Adachin in the flesh. He was quite a striking sight, with his vivid colours and long fur, and he was happy to pose for plenty of pictures. It was a rare treat, since Adachin only surfaces a couple of times a year to support local events such as this small market. I hope Adachin’s fortunes change and we see more of him in the future.
Each year an army of fuzzy mascots from all over Japan gather for Tokyo’s largest yuru-chara event, “The Gotouchi-Character Festival in Sumida”. Held in the last weekend of May at the base of Japan’s tallest structure, the towering Tokyo Sky Tree, the festival was tons of fun. Here are some of the pictures I took there:
Mori-ken, the mascot of Moriya City in Ibaraki, is a dog dressed as a frog.
Inappy rocks out.
Chicchai Ossan and a vending machine
Kiibou and Gibo-chan
Obuse Kuri-chan is a giant chestnut from Obuse City, Japan.
Zamarin meets Norimaki Tintaro.
Softkuri-inu, the soft ice cream dog/dog poo
Tsugaru-chan
Todorocky the boxing seal of Todoroki, Tokyo.
Shinjokun and Mikke-chan
Momiji-chan and Yuzugappa have a standoff.
Koakkuma and Akkuma
Jinguskan No Jin-kun
Udon-Nou in what appears to be a wedding dress.
Shimanekko
Chiba-kun meets Potekuma
Bari-san at the Tokyo Sky Tree
Umeneba-chan competes with the Sky Tree.
Katou Dennosuke
Chosei Tonyu-kun at the Sky Tree
Today I went the 60th annual National Corrections Exhibition, held by the Ministry of Justice at the Science Museum in Tokyo’s Kitanomaru Park. There were lots of arts and crafts for sale, made by prisoners as part of their rehabilitation. Here are some mascots I met there:
Waka-P is the orange-headed mascot of Wakayama Women’s Prison. (Her name is an abbreviation of the prison’s name. Oranges are grown in the area.)
Pourisu-kun is Japan’s law education squirrel mascot.
Jinken Mamoru-kun is one of the mascots for the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Human Rights Advocacy.
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