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July 07, 2025
 

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MASCOTS

Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Feb 24, 2018
Success of Pyeongchang Olympic mascots leaves Japan in a bind
While the performances of athletes have hogged much of the spotlight at the Pyeongchang Olympics, it’s been hard to ignore the stuffed tigers the winners have received on the podium at the conclusion of their events.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2017
Final selections for Tokyo 2020 mascot design to face student vote for first time ever
Organizers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Thursday unveiled three final candidates for the games' official mascot, passing the baton to the nation's elementary school students — who will pick the winner in a vote starting Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Nov 25, 2017
Narita's Unari-kun named mascot of 2017
Unari-kun, the official mascot of Narita City in Chiba Prefecture, defeated 1,157 rivals from localities nationwide to win this year's Yuru-kyara Grand Prix title. Chiryuppi of Chiryu, Aichi Prefecture, and Torai-kun of Higashi-Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, took second and third spots, respectively.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 22, 2017
Olympic mascot contest to start in August with over ¥1 million in prize money
The contest to design the official mascot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will kick off in August, and Japan's schoolchildren will pick the winner.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 24, 2016
Marketing push for Hokkaido Shinkansen blasts off
As Japan gets ready for the start of the new Hokkaido Shinkansen on March 26, many companies are launching marketing tie-ups — with some odd results.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2016
Funassyi character lends support and product license to Tohoku recovery groups
The pear-like character Funassyi may seem at first glance to be from another world, but the unofficial mascot of Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, is starting to make a real difference in this one.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2016
Cutesy mascots lead charge to woo customers away from electricity giants
In the battle for a slice of the ¥8.1 trillion ($72 billion) retail electricity market, Japan's biggest power companies are lining up against a cuddly bear, a fluffy white dog and a gorilla in business attire.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2015
Gifu city's sexually suggestive tourism promotion sparks Twitter outrage
A controversial flyer featuring an anime character with accentuated breasts has landed a small city tourism agency in hot water, with calls it is tantamount to sexual harassment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 28, 2015
Mariya Suzuki: ‘I like to draw the mundane moments that otherwise flit away’
Coffee cup illustrator on sketching, picture books and distractions
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 15, 2015
Funassyi — Japan’s favorite shrieking pear
It's all going pear-shaped, and that's a good thing for Funabashi's popular mascot.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2014
Canceled Tottori mascot makes controversial comeback in manga
A Tottori mascot that was ditched by the city three days after its July debut due to its depressing appearance has made a surprising — if somewhat controversial — comeback.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2014
Can a solo career help a mascot stand out?
Several weeks ago Fuji TV's morning news show sent a reporter to the Gunma Prefecture "antenna shop" located across the street from the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo's Ginza district. The store, which sells products made in Gunma, pays ¥64 million a year in rent for the small two-floor space, and an independent...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 28, 2014
Spending decades in Japan has made a mascot out of me
Japan loves mascot characters, part of its unholy obsession with anything "cute."
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2014
'Culture creation' often easier than it looks
For all the official rhetoric about the need for Kansai's prefectures to set themselves apart from each other, let alone from the rest of the country, the local bureaucracies too often have a herd mentality when it comes to planning and promoting tourism campaigns.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 7, 2014
Barely-a-bear Kumamon could be the next faker to shock Japan
Japan's "deaf composer," Mamoru Samuragochi, has turned out to be an imposter. Wow, who's next? Well, I'll tell you.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2014
Celebs to get shoved aside in Tokyo election
The Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Management Committee said Friday it won't be using celebrities in its get-out-the-vote campaign for the Feb. 9 gubernatorial election, citing insufficient lead time due to the abrupt resignation of Naoki Inose last month.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2013
Cheep shot: Mascot Totto-chan's lewd radio comments may be its last chirps
While the craze over regional mascots continues, recent mishaps involving some characters shows not everything is rosy in the "yuru-kyara" (soft character) industry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2013
Japanese firm's mascot name earns ridicule
Osaka-based Fukushima Industries Corp. apologizes for the uproar over Fukuppy, its latest corporate mascot, and admits it may change the name or at least the spelling in Roman characters.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2013
LDP breaks out election mascots
Illustrated characters resembling Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba have recently been selected to promote the resurgent LDP and its conservative causes with a requisite dash of cute.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 13, 2013
Mascots bear cash for local authorities
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 the Liberal Democratic Party leader, changing its...
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Tokyo and Kyoto feature among top ‘noctourism’ destinations
Tokyo ranked second after New York and ahead of Dubai and Singapore in a ranking of the top global cities for nighttime tourism.
Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 30.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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