Where to Start? So Many Cute and Weird Ones. (Patreon)

Hey hey, Everyone ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ﾉ" !! My time in the States is winding down. I'm going to miss everyone and everything here, but I'm also missing Japan and my crows and everything there, too.

I haven't had time to sit down and do a decent post for here, but I was working on this one and thought I'd go ahead and post it.

My favorite kind of mascot, the loose kind.

Mascots are everywhere. Every prefecture, city, team, company, food product, you name it. In Japan, you haven't made it until you have your own mascot. 

While most are absolutely adorable and a little silly, there is another offshoot of the masukotto kyara (mascot character) and that's the "yuru chara". Yurui character. Yurui meaning "loose" or "laid back". It's almost as if someone just grabbed some cloth, construction paper, and a hot glue gun and put them together on the tatami mat floor.

Yuru chara might not be as smooth and sharp as regular character mascots, but there's a lot to love about them. Indeed, they have their own fan base.

They were first named in the early 2000s by illustrator Jun Miura. He came up with three guidelines for whether or not your mascot is a yuru chara or not:

1. It should convey a strong message of love for the region it represents

2. It's movements and/or behavior should be "unique and unstable or awkward"

3. It should be unsophisticated, loose, or laid back and don't forget lovable!

Let me introduce you to two for the moment.

Meet Jinenja~ 

The Wild Yam Ninja who lives in the underground kingdom called "Neba~ Land". That a play off "neba" sounding like Never in Never Land, but it also means sticky. Grated wild yams are super sticky. 

Then we have Jinmen Seki-kun? Human-Faced Rock.

His special talent is to "make kids cry."

But this one is actually based on an ancient stone that was discovered on Iki Island at the Harunotsuji Ruins.

One of the three most important finds from the Yayoi Period, it resembles Munch's The Scream and is said to the the "scream of the Yayoi people."

Downright adorable 💕

Okay...there's more I want to write but everyone is getting ready to leave the house, so I need to get going. Will be home soon with lots of posts and Bedtime Stories. XOXO,

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