Up-chan once again shows that Japan loves cuteness and sexiness in equal measures.

Race queens are an ubiquitous part of motorsports marketing in Japan. Dressed in outfits that are a mix of fanciful and revealing design elements, the racing team spokesmodels are uniformly fit and cheerful young women, radiating active, energetic auras.

For example, here are the Drift Angels, who represent the racing team of Up Garage, which also runs one of Japan’s largest used auto and motorcycle parts chains.

As you can see, there are six women currently in the unit, but they’re often accompanied by a seventh race queen. See if you can spot her.

Still can’t find her? How about now?

Yep, it’s that fluffy cat on the right, named Up-chan, who’s thought to be the industry’s first kigurumi (full-body costumed character) race queen.

The “industry-first” claim might be kind of surprising, since all sorts of Japanese companies have cute mascot characters (even one that makes enemas). But Up-chan isn’t a traditional mascot character, but rather a recognized trainee member of Drift Angels. That means she appears alongside the human Drift Angels at races and promotional events, and even dresses in the same outfits.

▼ Yes, even the cleavage-exposing ones.

Of course, being a costumed cat means that sometimes Up-chan’s behavior is unique from her human teammates, like when she was recently filmed wrapping her mouth around this thick tube, which looks like some sort of air duct that she wanted to use to funnel a cool breeze into the costume.

https://twitter.com/KOKUYO4923/status/1132153269864714242

And then there was the time Up-chan decided to prank one of the regular Drift Angels by surreptitiously fanning the back of her thighs.

Still, it’s not like Up-chan is constantly goofing off, as she’s also often seen working on her alluring poses in an effort to be as photogenic as possible.

However, Up-chan is yet to be made a full-fledged Drift Angel, as her trainee status is unchanged since her 2016 debut. Her official profile still lists her dream as to one day become an official member of the unit, though, which means she hasn’t given up yet, so maybe one day she’ll become famous enough to warrant her own race queen clock photo series.

Source: Up Garage, Twitter/@KOKUYO4923 via Jin
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