Kumamon mascot sees surge in 2012 product sales

Mar 1, 2013

Kumamon mascot sees surge in 2012 product sales

Sales of products featuring Kumamon, the official black bear mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture, swelled to at least ¥29.36 billion in 2012, about 11 times more than the previous year, officials said. Taking advantage of the boom, prefectural officials said a Kumamon song — the ...

Mascots bear cash for local authorities

| Jan 13, 2013

Mascots bear cash for local authorities

by Philip Brasor

In September 2007, after Shinzo Abe had abruptly quit his first stint as prime minister, sales of Shin-chan Manju, a bean-paste-filled bun named after Abe, spiked. The maker of the buns had tried to promote the product over the course of Abe’s year as ...