Tourism officials in Osaka gathered Friday at the city's landmark Tsutenkaku Tower to pass the torch to a cow, next year's animal in the Chinese zodiac, from 2008's mouse.
Wishing for a better business year during an annual yearend ceremony, the officials introduced a young Holstein to three mice on the second floor of the tower, a popular tourist spot in downtown Osaka.
Speaking for the mice, Masaaki Nishigami, 58, president of Tsutenkaku Kanko Co., which runs the tower, said, "The year of the mouse is about to close with the global economy and domestic politics thrown into turmoil.
"I feel as if I am a cornered mouse."