Category: Mascots

World Character Summit 2018

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.

A Triumphant Homecoming for Kapal

By Chris

On December 3, 2018

In Hikonyan, Japan, Kapal, Mascots

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

Mascot Wrestling

By Chris

On November 13, 2018

In Japan, Mascots, Tokyo, Videos

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.

Mascots at the Tourism Expo Japan 2018

By Chris

On October 26, 2018

In Japan, Kumamon, Mascots, Tokyo

Last month I attended the “Tourism Expo Japan 2018” in Tokyo Big Sight, a huge aircraft hangar-sized event space in Odaiba, Tokyo. There were displays, installations, and performances from tourist destinations around Japan and the rest of the world, but I went to the travel-themed convention in the hope of catching some regional mascots there. I wasn’t disappointed—there were seemingly hundreds of them, from all corners of the country (and a handful of international ones). This was an excellent opportunity to see some obscure mascots who rarely visit Tokyo. Here are some photos:

Sugarabu-chan the sugar fairy is the mascot of the online shop, Konpeitouyasan.

Momocchi and Uracchi are mascots from Okayama

Toripy, the pear/bird mascot of Tottori, meets Mayumaro, the 2000-year-old silkworm cocoon mascot of Kyoto.

Kuedon and Wakapan are mascots from Wakayama Prefecture.

Tsuntsun the dog and Guribu the pig (mascots from Kagoshima, Japan) are good dancers.

Ieyasu-kun and Naotora-chan are from Hamamatsu City.

Kyun-chan, a Japanese pika in a deer costume, is Hokkaido’s tourism mascot. IburiOne Jr. is a dog mascot from Iburishichou, also in Hokkaido

Kumamon, the hardest working mascot in Japan!

Tacchan (from Ie village, Okinawa) is a bird with peanut pants and a mountain hat.

Kiko-chan the red bull is the mascot of Kikonai, Hokkaido.

Ndacchi is the mascot of Akita, Japan.

Domo-kun, the long-serving mascot of the national broadcaster, NHK.

Kazumo-chan, the mascot of Rumoi, Hokkaido, is a piece of herring roe.

The Shikoku Railway Company mascots are Smile Eki-chan and Reccha-kun.

Kita No Pe-chin is the mascot of Kitanakagusuku village in Okinawa.

Ndanyan is the mascot of Shinjo City.

Adachin: Stray Mascot

By Chris

On September 9, 2018

In Japan, Mascots, Tokyo

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.

Meeting Chiitan

By Chris

On August 4, 2018

In Chiitan, Japan, Mascots, Tokyo

Japan’s fastest rising costumed character, Chiitan, is an anarchic, accident-prone otter with a turtle for a hat. In the past couple of weeks, a Chiitan pop-up cafe has opened in Yurakucho, Tokyo, and a number of Chiitan pop-up shops have opened in Loft department stores around the country. Last week, I paid a visit to the cafe, and caught an appearance by Chiitan herself at one of the pop-up stores.

Chiitan is employed by the tourist board of Tokyo’s “Electric Town”, Akihabara, but also moonlights as a mascot for Susaki, a city whose regular official mascot is a fellow otter, the placid and well-behaved Shinjokun. Shinjokun and Chiitan appear to share a designer, but are based on different breeds of otter (Shinjokun’s breed is extinct). Chiitan was, in fact, inspired by a real-life otter, an Asian small-clawed otter named Chiitan, who also enjoys a sizeable online following.

The pop-up cafe is at the top of Marui Department Store in Yurakucho until August 5th and has a small menu of novelty dishes inspired by Chiitan’s antics. There’s a Thai curry arranged to resemble Chiitan’s face, which comes with a hammer with which you can messily mash up the food. I ordered some cookies which were designed to be karate chopped in half. It was all very expensive, but a lot of fun.

Last Saturday Chiitan made an appearance in Shibuya Loft Department Store. The event was only announced shortly before, but there were still tons of people there to see the destructive otter in action. The crowd were treated to a series of party tricks, like Chiitan violently attacking an inflatable toy and trying to spin a hula-hoop. Afterwards, a few people (including myself) were invited to pose for pictures with Chiitan. I was surprised to discover that Chiitan is one of the taller mascots, at about seven feet tall (if you include the turtle hat). A busy otter, Chiitan was soon hustled away, but it was a blast to encounter a mascot at the top of its game.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Mascots Make Their First Appearance

By Chris

On July 22, 2018

In Japan, Mascots, Olympic mascots, Tokyo

This morning I went to Hibiya Midtown, a luxurious shopping and entertainment complex in Tokyo, to see the grand debut of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic mascots, six months after their designs were voted for by Japan’s elementary school students.

Sitting outside in the sweltering July heat, the attendant crowd were treated to a short animated film featuring the Pokemon-like characters, and a brief introduction by a pair of Japanese medalists. Then the wall behind the stage unexpectedly burst open and the two eagerly-awaited mascot characters emerged from a cloud of dry ice. It was quite a bombastic entrance.

They were then joined on stage by the former prime minister, Yoshihiro Mori, and current Tokyo governor, Yuriko Koike, who were there to reveal the names of the mascot pair. The blue Olympic mascot (whose checkered pattern blended in with the mural behind him) is called Miraitowa; and the pink Paralympic mascot is called Someity.

Yoshiro Mori and Yuriko Koike reveal the new mascots’ names.

According to some signs at the scene, “the name MIRAITOWA is based on the Japanese words “Mirai” (future) and “towa” (eternity) connected together. This name was chosen for the Olympic mascot to promote a future full of hope forever, in the hearts of all the people in the world. The name SOMEITY comes form “Someiyoshino”, a popular cherry blossom variety, and the phrase “so mighty”. Someity has cherry blossom tactile sensors, and can show enormous mental and physical strength. The mascot represents Paralympic athletes who overcome obstacles and redefine the boundaries of possibility.”

There was then a ceremony to mark the opening of the “Mascot House” pop-up store in the lobby of the Hibiya Midtown building. I was given a sneak preview of the mascot-related merchandise on sale in the shop, including plushies, neckties, water bottles, and keyrings. After that, Miraitowa and Someity were whisked off for a cruise down the Sumida River, to wave at fans watching from the riverbanks.

The two characters will be appearing at the “Mascot House” every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until the first week of September, so you can go and have your picture taken with them.

Gotouchi-Character Festival in Sumida 2018

By Chris

On June 17, 2018

In Japan, Mascots, Tokyo

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

Mascots of Justice

By Chris

On June 2, 2018

In Japan, Mascots

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.

Mascots Take Over the Kanagawa Prefectural Government Office

By Chris

On May 17, 2018

In Chiba-kun, Japan, Mascots, Yokohama

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.