Last year, Japan’s Finance Ministry made the difficult decision to crack down on the number of mascots in the country, ordering officials nationwide to cut back on the use of the life-size yuru-kyara (laid-back characters), saying the characters were a waste of public funds.
Japan is probably one of the few countries in the world where it is not considered strange for adults to stop and hug a costumed character, or for that matter, carry on a conversation with one. That’s because Japan is a relatively peaceful country, and “You can interact with mascots in public in a way you might hesitate to do with other people, like hugging,” says Choko Ohira, the founder of a school where people wanting to zip themselves into hot suits and wear huge heads go to learn the fine art of being mascots.
Shimanekko, the tourism mascot of Shimane Prefecture is a yellow cat, with a roof on its head resembling those at the historic Izumo-Taisha shrine.
Thousands of mascots will have to go
Japan has literally thousands of cute and not-so-cute life-size mascots roaming the streets, cutting ribbons for new business openings, promoting tourism, environmental messages, bullet trains, well, you know what I mean. There is just too many of the darned things, says the Finance Ministry.
The thing is, the mascots are frittering away taxpayer money, and many people are beginning to complain, and rightly so. One prefecture is being set-back a million yen ($8,400) a year on maintenance, perhaps because their reclusive mascot only makes four or five appearances yearly. This abuse of taxpayer’s money shows that many public officials put little thought into the reasons behind having a mascot or if they are even getting any value for their money.
Hikonyan was created in 2007 by the city government of Hikone, Japan to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Hikone Castle. Hikonyan’s helmet is a recreation of a Ii family helmet from the Castle Hikone Museum.
The mascot’s effect on tourism was tremendous, increasing the numbers of visitors to over 200,000 annually and generating 17.4 billion yen (approximately US$218 million) for the tourism industry. In 2010, the mascot won first place in the Yuru-khara Grand Prix, held annually to pick the best mascot.
In Osaka, Japan where there is an incredible 92 yuru-charas, many not so cuddly-looking. They have a mascot for everything you can possibly imagine, from mascots promoting child-care services to tax payment campaigns. “We have decided to select Mozuyan, our oldest one, following doubts about the public relations impact of having too many characters, said an Osaka government official. “The number has now fallen to 69 and there is no plan to create any new ones,” she said.
Osaka’s choice of Mozuyan is possibly emblematic of the fate awaiting many not-so-popular mascots. Mozuyan’s head is modeled after the head of a shrike, a carnivorous bird that impales its victims on thorns before eating them. It sort of brings to mind Vlad, the impaler, doesn’t it?
Many mascots will be “reborn” as “one of many,” like officials in the remote district of Rumoi had to do. “Ororon Robo Mebius” is a conglomeration of eight deceased mascots. It looks sort of like a giant humanoid robot with legs, arms and a body that all came from different mascots representing different communities.