"Kiccoro" and "Morizo" have been selected as the names of two mascots for the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture, an Expo organizing body said Saturday.
The Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition chose them from among 82,527 names submitted in a public contest held since the organizing body announced in March the designs for the mascots — the Child of the Forest and the Old Man of the Forest.
Kiccoro for the child was the idea of Nobue Tominaga, a 38-year-old housewife in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. Morizo for the old man was thought up by Hideko Kanada, 68, in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.
The announcement came exactly 1,000 days before the official opening of the exposition, which begins on March 25, 2005, and runs until Sept. 25 that year.
According to the association, 41 countries and five international institutions have so far conveyed their plans to take part in the 2005 Expo.
Construction of the Expo facilities will begin in September.