“Emotional parking boy that can be used every day” is missing one vital thing.

One of the great things about taking a stroll in Japan is all the cute street art you’ll encounter, with storefronts, buildings and signboards filled with colourful messages, and in many cases, some cute manga-style characters as well.

What you see will vary depending on what part of the country you’re in, and if you find yourself in Tokushima, on the island of Shikoku in southwestern Japan, chances are you’ll come across a mascot that looks like a running boy.

Often accompanied by a big “P“, this character can be found at “Minute Park” parking lots around the city, with his red cap and blue outfit drawing the eye.

In some areas, the running boy mascot is so prevalent it looks like he might actually be running after you. Just when you think you’ve escaped his vision by turning a corner, chances are he’ll be there again, dashing towards you with raised eyebrows.

▼ No escape…

▼ …from…

▼ …the running boy!

While the mascot is omnipresent on the streets, surprisingly it isn’t always running, because at this spot he’s standing still, mouth agape as if he’s either happily surprised by the cheap price of parking or announcing it to drivers.

At this sign near Tokushima Awaodori Airport, the character appears in a variety of outfits, including the traditional costume of the region’s famous Awa Odori dance festival.

▼ Is the running boy now dancing boy?

So what’s the story behind the mascot? A closer look at the fine print on this sign reveals no results, as it only details guidelines for using the parking lot.

In order to get to the bottom of the mystery and discover the name of the running boy, we contacted the Tokushima-based operator of Minute Park, and asked them about it directly.

According to the company, the running boy mascot came into being around 1998, the same year when Minute Park was born. Surprisingly, though, the mascot has no official name.

The closest the character came to an official name is when it appeared in a stamp collection on the Line messaging app, where it was named “Emotional Parking Boy That Can be Used Every Day“.

That’s a mouthful of a name, likely to describe the character’s ability to express a variety of emotions in the Line stamps which can be used every day, but the caption below the title indicates that it is in fact a boy, as it reads: “The character boy from Minute Park / Day Park appears on stamps!”

In speaking to the company, we learned that the nameless running boy isn’t only found in Tokushima, as the mascot is also the face of about 3,000 “Day Park” lots in the Kanto region in and around Tokyo.

▼ The boy for “Day Park” (one-day parking lots) wears a yellow jacket instead of blue.

There are about 300 to 400 Day Parks in Nerima, Adachi, and Itabashi wards in Tokyo, so if you keep an eye out in those areas, you may just spot the running boy.

▼ If you want to see the character in a blue jacket, though, you’ll have to be in Tokushima.

Once you spot the running boy, you’ll start seeing him everywhere — so much so that we reckon he should have his own Instagram account.

▼ If running boy had an Insta account, this is what his grid would look like.

Japan has a huge array of mascot characters, but for us, there’s something intrinsically charming about the running boy with no name. It just goes to show that you don’t always need a name to attract attention, especially if the character design is on point, so we hope he continues running well into the future, unlike the Kyoto Tower character, whose contract was suddenly terminated last year.

Related: Minute Park
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