mascot
Spoiler alert: it’s filled with one human, 10 pounds of sweat, and at least a year’s worth of back pain.
In what other country would someone think it was a good idea to hold a national ranking of bus company mascots?
Nyango Star must have apple-cat nerves of steel as he absolutely kills a performance of X Japan songs in front of a discerning audience.
Have you ever seen a mascot play drums? I bet you’d never expect one to be this awesome at it.
Even Gudetama occasionally cleans up after himself, which is more than we can say about some of our roommates in the past.
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Domo-kun is down on the ice and can’t get up! Who can save the furry, brown monster mascot?!?
It seems to be that moe girls, those cute, sometimes slightly sexualized, doe-eyed animated characters, have spread from their origin in Japan throughout Asia. Not only have we seen them being used to mock government initiatives in Indonesia. In Taiwan, they’ve been employed extensively as subway mascots, and now the Department of Technology in Taipei has joined the moe bandwagon with 230-chan.
Kumamon is the official mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan. Since his debut in 2010, he’s become wildly popular, appearing in all kinds of media and lending his face to uncountable products. By some estimates, he’s pulling down hundreds of billions of yen a year. He’s given a guest lecture at Harvard, despite being mute, and has even met the imperial couple.
But despite this blessed existence, even mascots have bad days. And being in the public eye, those bad days are immortalized on film.
When it comes to food, presentation is everything, especially in Japan. You only have to stroll through a department store’s food floor to see how beautifully packaged and arranged everything is. And DIY food decorating is something that a lot of people really get into, whether it’s kyara-ben, deco-nabe, or artfully arranged curry rice.
And speaking of curry rice, here’s how to create an eye-catching deco-curry featuring one of Japan’s most beloved and cuddly mascot characters, Rilakkuma!
When you think about Japan’s obsession with the yuru-kyara, you will notice a few pretty common characteristics between the mascots, especially when looking at the past grand prix winners. Kumamon, Sanomaru, Gunma-chan, and Bary-san are all large, cute, fuzzy and somewhat aloof. Which is why it’s so strange to see one of the newest yuru-kyaras to debut.
Warabi Maiko-chan doesn’t seem that cute or fuzzy. In fact, whatever characteristics this new mascot is supposed to have, we can clearly say, we can see right through her.
A new superhero has arrived to save the people of Osaka from evildoers. This is great because just the other day some savage left an empty can in my bicycle’s basket while I parked it.
Unfortunately for me, his beat is just on the Rapi:t express train running between downtown’s Namba Station and Kansai International Airport. But if you happen to find trouble on the way to or from KIX there’s only one name to call out for help: Rapi…Ra…Rapee-itl-dee-yer!!?
Last year, Taiwanese netizens went gaga when one of the local subway systems, the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT), introduced two moe mascots to liven up their stations. The two anime girls, Xiao Qiong and Emilia, stirred up such a huge sensation, it seemed as if they were the only example of their kind in the country, but Taiwan has more moe than that!
If moe culture is your cup of tea, you’ll probably like this because we’ve got more Taiwanese anime mascots after the jump!
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