Apparently two mascots weren’t enough. A Nara-based Buddhist group announced yesterday that it had created its own mascot to mark the 1,300th anniversary of Nara becoming capital of Japan.

Here’s some Fuji TV coverage of the press conference:

And a large image of the new mascot:

The mascot’s name is Namu-kun, and despite what you may think, he is a boy. He is made to look like Prince Shotoku, a leader whose palace is said to have been located in Nara. Some feel that this mascot is more respectful towards Buddhism than the unpopular Sento-kun, an antlered Buddha-thing that the Nara government officially named its mascot back in March.

In a poll conducted in our last post about the Nara mascot battle, Japan Probe readers overwhelmingly picked Manto-kun over Sento-kun. Let’s see how the newest mascot performs in a poll!