Happy Mascots: Alive and kicking!!!

Hi.

Come inside!

Take a free magazine!

Buy a computer!Please don't punch me in the face.
(Note: the boy did, and there was somebody inside that thing!)

Happy Mascots in Kawagoe

Onions are usually associated with making people cry, but these can only put a smile on your face.

Local delicacy the sweet potato is more likely to scare off tourists with that grumpy face. Still, if you're ever in Kawagoe, I can recommend you try the sweet potato ice cream. It's purple and tasty.

These mochi-making mascots look none too happy. Presumably it becomes less fun if you have to do it all year round.

The one hundred million yen (ichi oku yen) note exists, is made of dried squid, edible, and will set you back only 350yen.

Usually in Japan you find people in bright coloured clothing either handing out tissues or shouting at passers-by outside mobile phone shops in order to promote their wares. Here, a trio of superhero ninja monkeys serve the same purpose.

I just love this antique. The frog is asking the rhino beetle car to let the turtle and caterpillar cross the road. Crawl safely.

Happy Mutant Mascot Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originate from an American comic book, so I don't think this one is related.
This turtle boy is a Kappa, a river sprite found in Japanese folklore. While it looks cute, it has an absolutely disgusting eating habit. Read about it here.

It's a tortoise and a hare! I think we have a winner here...

Happy Mascots: Cats and Dogs

I've amassed something of a backlog of Happy Mascot photos, and most are of cats and dogs! They're everywhere! And most are poor designs as well!

That's a very fluffy-cheeked cat.

Acorn, dog...or both?

The sign says it's a dog hair salon. Cats are also welcome, by the looks of it.

That boy and his dog...they've got the same eyes!

If you have an orange dog or green cat, visit this pet clinic.

International shipping company Yamato's famous black cats.

Happy Mascots: Random Encounters #7

Squid smurf demonstrates the elasticity of this dried squid "sweet". It was in fact one of the most sour things I have ever eaten in my life.


TV station TBS also builds homes - this beardy fellow appears to be the Happy Mascot for the homes division.


Even cigarette butts themselves prefer to be put in an ashtray than be thrown out onto the street.

Happy Mascots: It's Wabbit Season!

Hewwo! Elmer Fudd here! Be vewy vewy quiet...I'm hunting wabbit mascots!

"You wouldn't shoot a rabbit with glasses, would you?"

Now where did that wascal wun off to?

Oh hewwo, miss, you wouldn't happen to have seen any wabbits awound here?
"Eeeehhh, he went thataway!"

NO USE HIDING WABBIT!

I gots you now you scwewy wabbit!
*CLICK*
Well what do you know, no mowe battewies...

Happy Mascots: Random Encounters #6

Papillas are the bumps on your tongue, and by the root of a hair. Papilla-kun here is the Happy Mascot of hair implant company Reve21. Makes sense, right?

A boy riding a scooter wearing a large red safty [sic] helmet.

Finally, to answer the question "What kind of home would an elephant build?":

Two purple elephants promoting a catalogue show-home.

Happy Mascots: Random Encounters #5

One of the Happy Mascots of TV station TBS, whose body shape is most likely derived from the kanji for "person", goes for a stroll.

Dining and shopping area for ferrets up ahead.

Elephant-sized dungarees are apparently easier to find than elephant-sized construction helmets. What kind of home would an elephant build, anyway?
Find out tomorrow in Random Encounters #6!

Happy Mascots: Random Encounters #4

More weird and wonderful Happy Mascots! You can run but you can not hide! There is no escape! Watch out, here they come!

It looks like a domino piece, but it's more likely to be a pair of conjoined Mahjong pieces.

Not sure what this is meant to be, but it definitely looks happy. Lives next door to the Mahjong twins.

"Greensaurus" on a bag of green peppers. Note the shape of its cute head!

Happy Mascots: Dental edition

Small businesses here are just as fond of having their own Happy Mascot like the big ones do. The poles carrying telephone and electricity cabling often carry ads for small local businesses, such as dental clinics. Here are a few I've spotted in the neighbourhood.

Having confident teeth is a good thing. A cute koala promoting a children's dentist.

A tube of toothpaste is not a cat toy.

Happy Mascots: Random Encounters #3

Here are a few more specimens of Happy Mascots I recently spotted while on "Mascot Patrol". Always carry a camera!

An insectoid parking lot superhero ensures your car is parked safely.

A happy cupcake. His brethren were tasty.

A truly weird self-opening door with floating eyeballs. The company name appears to be shouted by somebody who has gone inside!

Happy Mascots: Docomodake!

Here's something that's not an uncommon sight in Japan - a large, inflatable mushroom sitting on the street just staring ahead of him.
But don't worry! He's not down and out, loitering or slacking off. He's hard at work -- he's a Happy Mascot!

He's part of the Docomodake family, who have been drafted to promote NTT Docomo, a mobile phone network provider.

The Docomodake website offers plenty of the usual downloadable goodies; wallpapers, Christmas and New Year cards, animations and a pair of nicely animated TV ads.

Happy Mascots at the Post Office

In the run-up to Christmas and New Year it's busy all day at the post office. The Christmas cards, gift parcels and the all-important New Year's cards are all being sent out now. The zodiac of the coming year is the Boar, so card shops and the post office are filled with images of boars.The post offices in Japan however aren't just busy with people (and boars) - they're also heaving with Happy Mascots! The Japanase postal service appears not to be content with just having one, and some of these mascots are created to promote a specific service.
Let's go meet a few, shall we?

The one on the far left is the most commonly used Post Office mascot. His hat follows the design of the zip-code boxes, often printed on envelopes and postcards - as demonstrated by the Happy Mascot standing next to him. My favourite is the red stamp, gleefully holding a white envelope. Finally, there's every postman's natural enemy in a romper suit with the Post Office logo on it.

A pair of philatelist penguins promoting stamp collecting.

Finally, a boar dressed as a postman - most likely a temporary employee.

Happy Mascots: Random Encounters #2

Going for a walk in Japan you are almost as likely to see Happy Mascots as you are human beings. Here are a few more from places I pass or visit regularly. As noted before, any object can be turned into a Happy Mascot - organs and planets being no exception!

This smiling globe served as a light source above a small construction site just off Shibuya station.

A happy heart asking for a high five. He lives next door to last week's smiling house. Why, it's another smiling house! That's not very original!

So there you have it: a happy heart, a happy home and a happy planet. What more could one ask for?