Mascots in Japan: 日本のマスコトキャラクター

 

            Japanese create several characters to advertise many products ranging from children’s toys to cultural and natural landmarks. This form of advertisement is part of Japanese pop culture and is intertwined with “Kawaii” culture, which revolves around cuteness and round shapes. These innocent and docile characters were originally created to target teenage to middle-aged women, but have become popular with both children and adults, male and female. 

            These characters are not necessarily used for product sales, but also for public services and transmission of information. Some of these characters include: Pokemon, Rilakkuma, Hello Kitty, Mt.Fuji, Takoyaki, Suica penguin, and several other characters which can be seen on a daily bases.

            Pokemon, Rilakkuma, and Hello Kitty are examples of some of these mascots that have gone beyond a single product advertisement and now range from children’s toys to household items. Fujisan and the takoyaki mascots have been based off specific things. Fujisan is a cute mountain shape character representing Mt. Fuji, aside from Fujisan, a pink mountain character has been created as Fujisan’s girlfriend. The popularity of the takoyaki in the Kansai region has led to the emergence of the takoyaki characters which are cute round look like takoyaki. Both Fujisan and takoyaki characters have been given big oval eyes and other cute details very characteristic of all kawaii characters. The Suica Penguin is a character made for the Suica card and is an example of how these characters are used for public services.

These following character images are may not be as well-known as the prior, but there main purpose is to convey information or attract people. The extent to which these characters are utilized for product and service representation still takes me by surprise. Being in Japan has opened my eyes to many perspectives that I never took into consideration. I feel that the kawaii culture in Japan and these mascots are a form of soft power that Japan been able to promote and maybe as effective if not more so than hard power enforced by many other countries.