Tag - mascots

 
 

MASCOTS

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2016
Cutesy mascots lead charge to woo customers away from electricity giants
In the battle for a slice of the ¥8.1 trillion ($72 billion) retail electricity market, Japan's biggest power companies are lining up against a cuddly bear, a fluffy white dog and a gorilla in business attire.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2015
Gifu city's sexually suggestive tourism promotion sparks Twitter outrage
A controversial flyer featuring an anime character with accentuated breasts has landed a small city tourism agency in hot water, with calls it is tantamount to sexual harassment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 28, 2015
Mariya Suzuki: ‘I like to draw the mundane moments that otherwise flit away’
Coffee cup illustrator on sketching, picture books and distractions
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 15, 2015
Funassyi — Japan’s favorite shrieking pear
It's all going pear-shaped, and that's a good thing for Funabashi's popular mascot.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2014
Canceled Tottori mascot makes controversial comeback in manga
A Tottori mascot that was ditched by the city three days after its July debut due to its depressing appearance has made a surprising — if somewhat controversial — comeback.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2014
Can a solo career help a mascot stand out?
Several weeks ago Fuji TV's morning news show sent a reporter to the Gunma Prefecture "antenna shop" located across the street from the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo's Ginza district. The store, which sells products made in Gunma, pays ¥64 million a year in rent for the small two-floor space, and an independent...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 28, 2014
Spending decades in Japan has made a mascot out of me
Japan loves mascot characters, part of its unholy obsession with anything "cute."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2014
'Culture creation' often easier than it looks
For all the official rhetoric about the need for Kansai's prefectures to set themselves apart from each other, let alone from the rest of the country, the local bureaucracies too often have a herd mentality when it comes to planning and promoting tourism campaigns.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 7, 2014
Barely-a-bear Kumamon could be the next faker to shock Japan
Japan's "deaf composer," Mamoru Samuragochi, has turned out to be an imposter. Wow, who's next? Well, I'll tell you.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2014
Celebs to get shoved aside in Tokyo election
The Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Management Committee said Friday it won't be using celebrities in its get-out-the-vote campaign for the Feb. 9 gubernatorial election, citing insufficient lead time due to the abrupt resignation of Naoki Inose last month.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2013
Cheep shot: Mascot Totto-chan's lewd radio comments may be its last chirps
While the craze over regional mascots continues, recent mishaps involving some characters shows not everything is rosy in the "yuru-kyara" (soft character) industry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2013
Japanese firm's mascot name earns ridicule
Osaka-based Fukushima Industries Corp. apologizes for the uproar over Fukuppy, its latest corporate mascot, and admits it may change the name or at least the spelling in Roman characters.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2013
LDP breaks out election mascots
Illustrated characters resembling Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba have recently been selected to promote the resurgent LDP and its conservative causes with a requisite dash of cute.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?