Category: Funassyi

World Character Summit 2019

On December 12, 2019

In Chiba-kun, Funassyi, Japan, Kapal, Mascots, Shinjou-kun

Last month I attended Japan’s annual “World Character Summit”, held each November in Hanyu City, Saitama, on the outskirts of Tokyo. The world’s largest outdoor gathering of costumed characters, more than 300 were present, despite the terrible weather. Rain was bucketing down for most of the weekend, and the place was so muddy that it resembled the Glastonbury Festival. Mascots wore plastic bags on their feet to keep the mud off. I arrived halfway through the second day, just when the rain was stopping, and I managed to see a few mascots in customized raincoats, and even took some pictures with a rainbow in the background.

Shikisshi, the portrait-painting portrait painting from Fukuoka, paints a portrait of Naruma, the mascot of Kochi City .

Spanky, the unemployed alien dog guitarist from Osaki, Tokyo, yanks the tongue of Yokkaichi City’s rotund yokai boy mascot, Konyudo-kun.

Mito-chan (of Mito City) and Coroton the pig (from Maebashi City) pose together.

Tenny & Teo & T.T are the llama mascots for the Japanese website for the mothers of young children, Teniteo.

Kapal, the bass-playing, cucumber-obsessed kappa mascot of Shiki City.

Komikyan, Dark Mikyan, and Mikyan, the dogs/oranges from Ehime, Japan

Shimanekko, the shrine-headed cat of Shimane Prefecture, meets Mozuyan, the shrike mascot of Osaka.

Gumamon, the mascot of the sunny, tropical island of Guam, visits muddy Hanyu.

Karawan-kun, the mascot of Karatsu City, meets a fellow dog.

Hanipon, the haniwa (ancient clay statue) from Honjo City, meets Gis-kun, the black sheep from Hokkaido.

Jin-kun, the lamb mascot from Sapporo, in a raincoat under a rainbow

Bravo the bear, from Taipei City, meets the Bizbear brothers (mascots for the costume makers, Kigurumi.biz)

Gotouchi Character Festival in Sumida 2019

By Chris

On June 7, 2019

In Funassyi, Japan, Kumamon, Mascots, Shinjou-kun, Tokyo

Last month I went to the annual Gotochi Character Festival in Sumida, Tokyo, which took place in three spots around the base of the Tokyo Sky Tree (Japan’s tallest tower). About 100 mascots from all over Japan came to the event, and I took lots of pictures. Among the highlights for me were appearances from the brand new mascots Kitanyan (trendy cat mascot for Jujo Ginza shopping arcade in Tokyo) and Komikyan (a baby version of Mikyan, a dog/tangerine hybrid mascot from Ehime), as well as the final appearance of Yuzugappaa—the popular half-citrus fruit, half-kappa (a folkloric water imp) mascot of Kito, Tokushima, who is now going into “hibernation” for undisclosed reasons.

Gingiskan No Jin-kun, the lamb mascot from Hokkaido

Tochisuke the half-dog/half-warehouse mascot of Tochigi City

eccentric unofficial regional mascots Funassyi and Kikuchikun face off on stage.

Kumamon, the bear-like Monster mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture

Matagi no Momiji-chan the hunter-hunting pink deer

Bari-san, the giant chick mascot of Imabari City

Mikyan and Komikyan, tangerine puppies from Ehime Prefecture

Fukkachan, the mascot of Fukaya City, is a woodland creature with green onion antlers.

Kitanyan, the fashionable cat mascot for Jujo Ginza shopping arcade in Shinagawa, Tokyo

Udon Nou (a noodle-brained character from Kagawa) meets Yuzugappa (a hybrid of a kappa and a yuzu).

Shinjokun, the extinct otter with a bowl of noodles on its head, from Susaki City

Funassyi, the pear fairy from Funabashi, jumps for the crowd.

World Character Summit 2018

By Chris

On December 16, 2018

In Funassyi, Japan, Mascots, Shinjou-kun

Last month I went to the World Character Summit, Japan’s largest gathering of mascots, held each year in scenic Hanyu City in Saitama Prefecture. Around four hundred fuzzy characters from around the country (and a couple from overseas) made their way to Hanyu for the event. The mascots had stalls to sell their merchandise and wandered through the crowd, posing for pictures with their fans.

Highlights for me included seeing Kapal, the much-loved kappa mascot of Shiki City, basking in adulation after having been voted Japan’s favourite mascot of 2018 at the previous weekend’s Yuruchara Grand Prix; a raucous stage performance by Funassyi, the pear fairy from Funabashi City; and accident-prone otter Chiitan interacting with fans and other mascots.

Here are some snaps from the event:

Tochisuke the warehouse/dog from Tochigi City meets Shizunavi, the mountain-eared cat from Shizuoka.

Kapal, Funassyi, Akkuma, and Koakkuma on stage at the World Character Summit.

Mascots for Osaka TV station YTV, Shinobi (a cat-costumed ninja) and Ninmaru (a dog that sits on Shinobi’s head) meet Uwabaki Cook, a slipper character made for YTV’s 55th anniversary.

A gathering of round, yellow mascots (Bari-san, Potekuma, Tokoron, and Zoukirin)

Torarin, mascot of Kyoto National Museum, takes it easy.

Two eccentric kanji-faced mascots, Kureshi and Okazaemon

Mascot rock stars, Kapal, Funassyi, and Akkuma, onstage

Kapal is attacked by a pair of dangerous bears, Gloomy and Zombear.

Teletama-kun meets fellow yellow fellow, Ndabe.

World Mascot Summit 2017

By Chris

On December 2, 2017

In Funassyi, Japan, Mascots

Koakkuma, Funassyi, and Akkuma rock out on stage.

The annual “World Character Summit” took place last weekend, in Hanyu City, Saitama. It’s Japan’s biggest gathering of mascots, attracting 360 assorted yuruchara from all over the country. Kumamon was absent this year, as was the newly-crowned Yuruchara Grand Prix champion, Unari-kun, but most of the other well-known characters were there, posing for pictures with fans and performing on stage. It was a nice sunny day and I had a ton of fun. Here are a few of the mascots I encountered:

Sanuki, the udon noodle fairy.

Kure City’s dance-loving mascot, Kure-shi.

Gatagoro, a fish from Saga Prefecture’s Ariake Sea, and mascot-loving pop-idol, Yufu Terashima.

Teletama-kun, the cracked-egg mascot of Television Saitama, poses next to a sweet set of wheels (a Ferrarri 308 GTS).

Kamagaya City’s mascot, Kamatan, shows off a fancy classic car.

Akasaka Man strikes a pose.

Kaparu feeds Inanosuke his cucumber.

Hii-kun, Muu-chan, and Kaa-kun, the three dancing dogs from Miyazaki.

Huge party goods store mascot, Pier Nishiki, meets tiny kimono-clad safflower, Oke-chan.

Riku, Umi, and Sora, the self-defence force mascots for Saitama Prefecture, look like an awesome rhino version of the Village People.

Jepilie is the mascot for Japan Property Returns.

Ryuouh Sakura-chan in traditional dress.

Chip-kun, dabbing.

Bonsai-kun, a rhino with a bonsai tree instead of a horn.

Kumokkuro the cloud child (mascot of the Shibuya Flower Project, who plant flowers in the city) meets Peccary (mascot of both Japan’s Ecuadorean embassy and the city of Bizen, in Okayama).

Honda mascot, Kurutam.

Oyamakuma, the pink-cheeked bear from Oyama City, Tochigi.

Funyassi, Isa-King, Funassyi, Chicchai-Ossan, and Funagoro put on a show.

Spanky, Shinjou-kun, Osaki Ichibataro, and Nonko act out a sketch.

Tsurugon (with Shimaneko behind him).

Nakanon: a giant, waddling lotus flower fairy from Nagaoka, Niigata.

Mandarin-orange-headed Ehime Prefecture mascot, Mikyan, and his evil nemesis, Dark Mikyan.

Looking like an indecisive person’s Halloween costume, Francoise Biwa (mascot of Minamichita, Aichi) is a loquat tree fairy, and self-proclaimed princess of the fruit kingdom.

The Sumida Gotouchi-Chara Festival 2017 – Day 2

By Chris

On May 31, 2017

In Funassyi, Japan, Mascots

Here are some photos from the second day of last weekend’s regional mascot event in Sumida, Tokyo. The star attraction on the second day was Funassyi, the hyperactive pear and unofficial mascot of Funabashi, Chiba. He and Kumamon never seem to appear on the same day at these events. They’re like the brothers from Oasis.

Funassyi takes centre stage.

Osaki’s Thom Yorke lookalike, Spanky, is the guitarist for the yuruchara band, GCB47.

The bedraggled, trippy Psyche-Deli-san is a fitting mascot for Tokyo’s counter-culture enclave, Koenji.

The entertaining Goya-Sensei, a bitter melon from Fukuchiyama City in Kyoto, talks out of his forehead.

The winking “green spirit” Inappi comes from Inazawa City, Aichi.

Shirakawan is a white dog from Shirakawa City, Fukushima.

Sanomaru, official mascot of Sano City in Tochigi Prefecture, was voted best mascot at the Yuruchara Grand Prix in 2013. He wears traditional attire except for a noodle bowl for a hat.

Coroton, the spherical pig, must surely be an easy target in his hometown of Maebashi in Gunma, a city celebrated for its pork dishes.

Sanada Yukimaru is the mascot of Ueda Haramachi in Nagano.

Fukka-chan, the beloved mascot of Fukaya City, in Saitama, a prefecture with seemingly hundreds of mascots.

Talking into his forehead is Chosei Tonyu-Kun, a soy milk mascot whose face occasionally fall off.

The citrus fruit-headed water imp, Yuzu Gappa, of Tokushima Prefecture, reclines in the park. Is he aware that someone has drawn spectacles on his face?