Month: May 2018

Kobaton, Kanagawa Kintaro, and Chiba-kun

Every May, during Japan’s “Golden Week” holiday, the Kanagawa Prefectural Government Office in Yokohama opens to the public for a few days. The picturesque old brick building (nicknamed “King”) attracts a lot of tourists and, for the past few years, a ton of regional mascots. I went along (to be honest, to see the mascots, not the building), and I took lots of photos.

Atsugi City’s Ayukoro-chan, inside the “King” building.

Nakamaru, the mascot of Nakai Town, Kanagawa

Yokohama’s electricity mascot, Damuereki-kun and Miura Tuna Nanosuke of Miura Chamber of Commerce

Ebinya from Ebina City, and Sukarin, from Yokosuka City.

Oiso Town mascots, Isobee and Aomo, are birds with rolling ocean waves for hair.

Hakogeo, the mascot of Hakone Geopark

Peririn, from Yokosuka, based on Commodore Perry

Kanyao the cat is the mascot for Kanagawa Prefectural Citizen’s Bureau

Zamarin, of Zama City, and Yamaton, of Yamato City

Kanabou

Kururin, mascot of Isehara City

Chiba-kun takes a bow

Chippa-kun (mascot of Kids Dom Park) and Matsudo-san.

In a remote part of Chiba Prefecture there’s an adventure park called Kids Dom, and last Sunday they held a mascot event called the Gotouchi-chara Dai-Undokai (Local Mascots’ Big Sports Festival). This get-together attracted more than eighty mascots and entailed various competitive games such as an epic relay race and a balloon-popping contest. Presiding over the event was Kids Dom’s curious birdlike yellow mascot, Chippa-kun. Popular yuru-chara in attendance included Fukkachan, Kimipyon, Chiba-kun, and Hanipon, and there was a rare appearance from the Japanese national baseball team’s mascot, Samurai Tamabe, a samurai with a baseball/bear hybrid head.