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August 18, 2026
 

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KUMAMON

Kumamon, Kumamoto Prefecture¡¯s mascot character, visits Ryuhoku Saibu Elementary School in Hikawa, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2026
Kumamon visits quake-hit children¡¯s school to spread cheer
The popular mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture saw both students and evacuees using the school as temporary shelter.
A visitor to Osaka's World Expo 2025 wears Myaku-Myaku headgear in April. The mascot¡¯s runaway popularity surprised many, turning what some expected to be a liability into one of the event¡¯s biggest draws.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2025
Myaku-Myaku and the year of the mascots
Myaku-Myaku was the event¡¯s mascot and its breakout star. One report has the expo bringing in over ?3 trillion to the area, some ?300 billion ahead of estimates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2022
Kumamoto turns to trusty mascot Kumamon for post-COVID tourism boost
Authorities are developing bear-themed attractions across the region, betting they will spur an influx of overseas visitors when some of the world¡¯s strictest border restrictions ease.
Japan Times
LIFE / 2010S: DECADE IN REVIEW,2010s: Decade in review
Nov 7, 2019
Mascots: The secret weapon in Â鶹´«Ã½ soft power arsenal
What makes a good mascot? It used to be that being cute was enough, but ¡®yuru-kyara¡¯ in the 2010s needed storylines and Instagram followings if they want to make a mark.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jan 15, 2018
Kumamoto will allow foreign firms to use mascot Kumamon
Kumamoto Prefecture announces that it will lift a ban that prohibits overseas companies from making and selling products using the official prefectural mascot, Kumamon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Dec 17, 2017
Smart ways to communicate
The Babel fish stick
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2016
Beloved mascot Kumamon¡¯s absence since quakes spurs Japan Twitter traffic
Kumamoto mascot Kumamon has been missing in the wake of last week¡¯s devastating earthquakes in Kyushu, spurring concern on social media for its safety as well as criticism for the prefectural government¡¯s failure to use the furry animal¡¯s network to share information.
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...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 7, 2014
Barely-a-bear Kumamon could be the next faker to shock Japan
Â鶹´«Ã½ ¡°deaf composer,¡± Mamoru Samuragochi, has turned out to be an imposter. Wow, who¡¯s next? Well, I¡¯ll tell you.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 6, 2014
Happy birthday to Kumamon, Â鶹´«Ã½ favorite regional bear
You don¡¯t have to be from Kumamoto Prefecture to know Kumamon ¡ª a cute red-cheeked black bear who was officially introduced as the region¡¯s yurukyara (mascot character) in 2010. Since his appearance, he has arguably become one of the hottest yurukyara, along with Funabashi¡¯s blue-aproned pear, Funassyi....
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 / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 13, 2013
Mascots bear cash for local authorities
In September 2007, after Shinzo Abe had abruptly quit his first stint as prime minister, sales of Shin-chan Manju, a bean-paste-filled bun named after Abe, spiked. The maker of the buns had tried to promote the product over the course of Abe¡¯s year as the Liberal Democratic Party leader, changing its...
South Korea fires warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed DMZ
North Korea's propaganda village Gijungdong as seen from a South Korea's observation post inside the Joint Security Area on the Demilitarized Zone in March 2023
Slowly but surely, Tokyo is becoming a hot spot for chicken rice
One of Singapore's most iconic dishes, the humble chicken rice is given an upscale treatment at a new Marunouchi cafe.
At Yasukuni, the politicians followed the script, but the shrine did not
People crowd in front of Yasukuni Shrine to pay tribute to the war dead on the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, in Tokyo on Saturday.
New shinkansen model delivered to Taiwan
A new Taiwan High Speed Rail train car is unloaded from a cargo ship at a port in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Saturday.
Trump orders ¡®inappropriate¡¯ U.S.-South Korean military drills scaled back
A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flies over Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Monday, after Seoul said that its annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercises with the United States had started.
Unrelenting Russian anti-war protesters in Japan fight through inescapable doubt
Anti-war Russians protest Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in February.
How U.S. bombing survey in Japan shed light on civilian sentiments of WWII
Residents are seen walking beside rubble in the city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, in this undated photo taken soon after the end of World War II.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Takaichi needs Aso on her side to solidify position in LDP
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Liberal Democratic Party meeting alongside LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki (left) and LDP Vice President Taro Aso in Tokyo earlier this month
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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