Last weekend I ran into a couple of regional mascots by chance in Sangenjaya, Tokyo. Minamo, the mascot of Gifu Prefecture, and Kitokito-kun, the mascot of Toyama Prefecture, were both there at a joint promotional event for their hometowns.
Minamo
Kitokito-kun
An exhibition of pictures and memorabilia related to Kumamoto Prefecture’s beloved bear mascot, Kumamon, is currently being held in Tokyo’s Matsuya Ginza Department Store. The exhibition is free and will be held until December 28th. Items on display include illustrations and life-size models of Kumamon, photographs from his recent tour of France, and several costumes worn by the photogenic bear. I went along today and enjoyed it immensely.
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.
Tokoron, the lovable of mascot of Tokorozawa City in Saitama Prefecture, celebrated his seventh birthday last weekend. Tokorozawa is the home of aviation in Japan and was the site of the country’s first airport, and thus Tokoron is a human/plane hybrid.
Last month I was lucky enough to witness the spectacle of Tokoron exuberantly dancing in a parade. An incongruous but entertaining part of Tokorozawa’s otherwise traditional annual festival is the samba parade, so Tokoron was dressed in a flamboyant carnival costume. I salute whoever danced for hours in that cumbersome costume.
C.H.Lion Rag Baby (the mascot for Ken, the guitarist from the band, L’Arc en Ciel) flanked by the melon-bodied bear brother and sister, Mero and Cosumin, the mascots of Kawasaki’s Miyamae-ku.
A big festival was held last weekend in trendy Koenji, Tokyo, part of which was a gathering of mascots in a small park. Hosting the event was Koenji’s own Psyche Delhi-san, a glowing-eyed yuruchara in a turban. This was a fun event, because a lot of obscure and unusual mascots were present. Bad weather cut the day short, but I managed to see a encounter a few unique characters.
Teruru braves the rain.
OMC-kun, the debonair raccoon dog from Yamanashi’s Southern Alps, draws a portrait for a fan.
P-kun, the mascot for the P Ark pachinko chain, plays on a spring rider in the park.
Daikon-chama meets P-kun.
Ino-chan and Manabu are the mascots of school uniform makers, Tombow.
Ishinomaken makes cartoon noises when he moves.
Akabou-kun is the mascot for a removal van company.
Daikon-chama, unofficial mascot of Koenji’s Ota Ward.
Yuruchara team photo
Today in Tokyo, several mascots got together to play soccer near Osaki station. Osaki’s mascot, Ichiban Taro, was there, as was reigning Yuruchara Grand Prix champion, Shinjou-kun the extinct river otter.
It was more of a penalty shootout than a match, with mascots pairing off to compete against each other until a winner could be decided. The eventual winner was the local TV station mascot, a yellow dog named Shinagawan. At one point an anthropomorphic tomato slice named Tomato Ningen missed the goal and the ball hit me. This is a high-risk hobby.
Shinjou-kun shoots and scores.
Nonko scores a goal.
Harajuku Miccolo and Momo compete to win.
Local mascot Osaki Ichibantaro displays some fancy footwork.
Softkuri Inu, Haniton, Umeneba-chan
An environmental-conservation-themed event took place today in the picturesque Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. The event was called the GTF Green Challenge Day, and various eco-friendly mascots showed up to lend their support, including spherical yellow Fukushima mascots Kibitan and Yuzutaro.
Here are the yuruchara I managed to encounter:
Naraha City’s citrus-fruit-headed mascot, Yuzutaro
Ibaraki Prefecture’s Natto fairy (and girlfriend of Nebaru-kun), Umeneba-chan, stretches to her full height.
Shibuya’s pink ice cream/dog/dog poo, Softkuri-Inu, topples over.
Anthropomorphic honey toast character, Haniton
Shinkyu-san is the mascot for a campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It must be hot in that costume!
Biodiversity mascot, Sato-kun
Black Bancho, Na-chan, Reruhi-san, Burikatsu-kun
This week, several mascots from Niigata were to be found in Ueno Station, Tokyo. They came to promote their home prefecture. I managed to see Black Bancho, a super-cool squid from Itoigawa City; Reruhi-San, the 270cm-tall skiing mascot based on Theodor Von-Lerch, an Austro-Hungarian major who brought the sport to Japan; Na-chan, a fireworks fairy from Nagaoka; and Burikatsu-kun, a half-man/half-fish from Sado Island.
Black Bancho
Na-chan, the fireworks fairy
Reruhi-san jabs Burikatsu-kun with a fork.
Today, under the shadow of an incoming typhoon, thirty mascots from Saitama Prefecture came together in Kumagaya Sports Culture Park (in Kumagaya, Saitama). They came to celebrate their native prefecture, outside a football stadium where Saitama’s FC Omiya Ardija were playing Gamba Osaka. Ardija means squirrel in Spanish, and the team’s squirrel mascots were present. The match was a draw (2-2).
Each of the characters had a QR code on its person for you to scan on your phone, each of which revealed a word. After getting six words you could add them all together to make a question, which you then had to answer in order to enter a raffle to win prizes. The question was an obscure one—about an Omiya Arija striker’s goal scoring record. Luckily a beer stand barman helped me out with the answer and I could enter the raffle.
Eventually it began to rain and the yuruchara waddled away.
Here are a few of the mascots I met:
Mappu, the windmill mascot of Matsubushi Town.
Tamarlin, the mascot of Saitama Super Arena
Potekuma, the potato bear of Chichibu.
Hanipon, the mascot of Honjo City.
Midorino of Midori Village.
Popotan, a new dandelion fairy mascot from Asaka City.
Komugicchi, wheat mascot of Kamisato town.
Sakaron, mascot of Sakado City.
Teletama-kun, the mascot of Television Saitama.
Natchan, one of the mascots of Kamikawa.
Fuwappi is the name shared by the twin brother and sister mascots of Fujimi City.
Tana-chan, the mascot of Namegawa Town.
Hasupi, mascot of Hasuda City.
Kumagaya City mascot, Nyaozane.
*Edit: One week later I received a package in the mail. I had won a prize in the raffle. A box full of Saitama mascot goodies!
On September 8th and 9th, several mascots from the Bitchu area of Okayama Prefecture paid a visit to the Tottori/Okayama Antenna Store in Shimbashi, Tokyo. They were there for the Okayama Bitchu Marche, promoting goods and produce from the area, and encouraging tourism.
Japan Rail’s Okayama mascot, Kumanaku
Yakappi, mascot of Yakage Town, Okayama
Okayama mascot, Yuracchi
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