Posts Tagged ‘mascot’

Hikone targets Hikonyan look-alike

[Hikonyan (left) and Hikone no Yoi Nyanko (right)]
An illustrator who designed the Hikonyan character as a mascot for the 2007 festival celebrating 400 years of Hikone Castle is in a battle with Hikone City over the rights to the character’s image:

The application form for the festival had stated that the copyright of the mascot would belong to the executive committee, and after the end of the eight-month-long festival, the rights were transferred to the city government. The city applied for registration of the trademark for the mascot’s three different images and name — which had also been selected from entries from the public — in March 2007, and the move was approved in January 2008.

The three registered images of Hikonyan are poses of it “sitting,” “jumping” and “holding a sword,” but products using other designs of the mascot were soon on the market. In November 2007, the illustrator filed for mediation to demand a halt to the use of the mascot’s trademark after the end of festival that month, claiming that it was being used excessively for various commercial purposes that differed to the original intent.

The city agreed to the illustrator’s request and also for the illustrator to use similar designs for children’s books other than the three images, under various conditions such as having consultations prior to the public release of the books and restricting sales of products using designs other than the three images.

Children’s books did appear, using a Hikonyan look-alike called “Hikone no Yoi Nyanko.” Then, stores across the area began selling souvenirs featuring the new character. The new character is presented in poses that are not the same as the three claimed by the official Hikonyan. Here’s a TBS news report that shows the difference between the two:

The presence of “Hikone no Yoi Nyanko” souvinears has annoyed the city government, especially since tourists have no idea that the character is not Hikonyan. They are urging distributors not to sell non-official Hikonyan products.

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Elderly sweet potato mascot rises again

The village of Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture has unveiled a new statue of its mascot, Imojii the elderly sweet potato.

Tokai had put a statue of Imojii on display in March, but it was vandalized and broken apart within a mere 10 days (see above picture).

This time, the local government has created a much sturdier Imojii statue, which they hope will be able to last much longer:

The first generation Imojii statue will serve as a garden gnome of sorts for a nearby building.
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Kobe Port Tower mascot needs a nickname

The Kobe Shimbun reports that Kobe Port Tower‘s mascot needs a nickname. The character’s official name, Kobe Port Tower-kun, is terribly uncreative, so the Kobe Port Promotion Association is turning to the general public for nickname suggestions.

Anybody got some good ideas?

[hat tip to Ken Y-N of What Japan Thinks]

Another Nara mascot??!!

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 FTV 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!

Nara mascot faces internet rival

The struggle to do away with Nara’s new mascot has made it into the Asahi Shinbun:

NARA–Saying the official choice of a mascot to celebrate the 1,300th anniversary of the relocation of the capital here is just not cute enough, a citizens group has created a rival critter: Manto-kun, pictured right.

Manto-kun was chosen from 619 proposals by ballot and over the Internet, members of Creators Forum Yamato said Monday. About 49,000 people voted.

The group came up with the alternative mascot because the official mascot, Sento-kun, left, is “not cute,” members said.

Local merchants say they plan to use Manto-kun. Nara, which became the capital in 710, is celebrating the anniversary in 2010.

In a previous JapanProbe.com poll, a mere 11% found Sento-kun to be better than average, with only 3% declaring him to be “cute.” Let’s see how he matches up to his new rival:

[via Rocking in Hakata]

Nara’s New Mascot

Nara, a city of famous historic Buddhist temples and tame deer, recently unveiled a new mascot character to commemorate the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital:

Its creators believe that the character matches well with the city of Nara, but many have been criticizing the mascot for being un-cute. It was originally thought that this new character could rival the ultra-cute mascot of Hikone Castle, but maybe that was wishful thinking…

[Hat tip to KokuRyu]

Update: Nara might want to consider one of these alternative mascot designs.