One of the more memorable regional mascots is Melon Kuma, from Yubari City in Hokkaido. To represent a town best known for bears and melons, he’s quite simply a bear with a melon for a head. But instead of a predictably cute, Winnie the Pooh-style bear, the designers gave Melon Kuma all of a wild bear’s most savage and terrifying features. He looks like a chimera from a botched science experiment.
A standout at Yuru-chara gatherings, Melon Kuma runs around brutally attacking all the other hapless mascots.
Here he is, attacking the giant inflatable sumo, Pier Nishiki, the mascot of a party goods store.
Here, he attacks Yamaguchi prefecture’s Choruru, who manages to fend the monster off with a knife.
Although Melon Kuma is a nasty piece of work, you have to feel sorry for the performer inside the suit. Being the villain of the event means he spends all day being punched and kicked by children.