All this mascot-watching has got my creative juices flowing. Using some of my own tentative character designs, I’ve made a new satirical comic about Spaboon, a failed Japanese pharmaceutical company mascot.
Spaboon is a half-spoon, half-baboon hybrid, so when he is laid off by Epoch Pharma Corporation, his prospects are extremely limited, and he finds himself unemployed. In issue one, he falls in with a group of activists.
You can pick up issue one here: Spaboon Issue #1
For four years running, the winter sports website Fuyusupo has held a vote to decide the nation’s favourite ski resort mascot. The results of this year’s contest were announced at a special ceremony in Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture on Sunday, so I went along. The event resembled a big warehouse sale of ski gear, with a small stage for the mascot ceremony. I don’t think anybody else had come to see the mascots, but a small cluster of curious bargain-hunters eventually gathered around the stage when the announcements began.
Ticket-kun and Ponta
Out of the contest’s fifty entrants, half a dozen were in attendance, along with the website’s mascot, a ski-lift-ticket-loving dog named Ticket-kun.
The winner of the 2016-2017 Ski Resort Character Grand Prix had been a snow-covered conifer named Jukki-kun, representing Zao Onsen Resort in Yamagata. I spotted him in the audience at this year’s event, proudly showing off his trophy.
Last year’s winner, Jukki-kun
The new winners, Muhyoko-chan and Taiki-kun, with their trophy.
As it turned out, the winners of this year’s prize were also mascots from Zao Onsen (there are three). Named Taiki-kun and Muhyoko-chan, the champions were two more snow-coated trees.
In second place was a raccoon dog named Ponta, from Chausuyama Ski Resort (not to be mistaken with that other raccoon dog named Ponta, the mascot for the Ponta shopping point card.)
In third place was the unfortunately-named pig, Pork-kun, from Joetsu International Ski Area.
Pork-kun
After the voting results were revealed, the mascots played “janken” (rock, paper, scissors) with volunteers from the small crowd, and the winners got prizes. I was lucky enough to beat one of the Grand Prix victors, Taiki-kun, and I won a one-day ski-slope pass for Zao Onsen ski resort. If only I didn’t have to travel hundreds of miles to Yamagata to use it!
Kan-chan
Earlier this month I managed to catch a rare appearance by Kan-chan, the notorious “enema penguin” mascot of Ichijiku Pharmaceuticals. Ichijiku manufacture fig-based laxatives and enemas, so Kan-chan was not only designed to resemble an enema, but also made in the shape and colour of a fig. The addition of eyes, a beak, and feet give Kan-chan the cute factor required of all mascots.
I had been hoping to encounter Kan-chan for months, and I had previously planned to track the strange creature down at a pharmaceuticals expo late last year, but that event was cancelled due to rain. I was delighted when I discovered that Kan-chan would be appearing once again at a special Ichijiku event held at the foot of the famous towering structure, the Tokyo Sky Tree, so I hurried along before work.
Intestinal vending machine
In addition to meeting the bizarre mascot, visitors were also able to get free gifts in plastic capsules dispensed from a vending machine designed to look like an intestine. I won an exclusive Kan-chan key-ring, which I will treasure.
Kan-chan keyring
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.
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
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!
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