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:
The small city of Shiki, in Saitama Prefecture, is associated with the kappa, the fearsome water imp of lore. Historically, adults have told terrifying tales of kappa to scare children into staying away from the rivers which run through the city. Statues of the mythological beast can be found in numerous spots around the town centre.
A humanoid figure with a beak, a turtle’s shell, a monk’s haircut, and a fondness for cucumbers, the kappa was said to snatch unsuspecting kids from river banks and drag them down to a watery grave. In recent years, however, the kappa has evolved into something altogether more cute, as evinced by Shiki’s official mascot, Kappy, a round, soft, big-eyed fellow, more inclined to pose for photos with children than drown them.
Even more popular than Kappy is the city’s unofficial mascot, Kapal, another lovable kappa pal. The celebrated Kapal plays bass for two rock bands, GCB47 and Charamel, and was voted Japan’s favourite mascot at the Yuruchara Grand Prix in 2018. Kapal was very much the star attraction at Shiki’s Citizens’ Festival, which took place last month for the first time since 2019. I went along and had a fantastic time. There were a few dozen mascots in attendance and below are the pictures I took of the kappa characters who came (some of whom were wearing dresses as part of a stage play they performed at the event).
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.
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
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