Kumamon
Kumamon ( Japanese く ま モ ン ) is a mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan . The figure was created by the artist Manabu Mizuno. It was first created in 2010 for a campaign called the Kumamoto Surprise . Kumamon gained national popularity, and in late 2011 he won a nationwide vote on other mascots collectively known as Yuru Chara .
His name comes from a dialect "Kumamotomon", which means something like "a person born in Kumamoto". Its black appearance comes from Kumamoto Castle and its shape as a bear from that this is the meaning of kuma . The baggy black bear, the official representative of Kumamoto Prefecture, made its debut in 2010 just before the Kyushu-Shinkansen high-speed line opened . In 2011 he was awarded the Yuru Chara Grand Prix.
In July 2013 the bear was the mascot of the Japan Expo in Paris. Japan Expo is the largest event for Japanese culture and entertainment in Europe. The festival, which last year attracted over 219,000 visitors with its 13th edition, has become known far beyond the borders of Europe.
The German company Steiff released the Kumamon teddy bear in May 2013.
Kumamon has become the most popular character in Japan after the award ceremony. Sales of around 6000 products bearing the mascot already exceeded 2.93 billion yen in 2012. The first series of 1,500 teddy bears that Steiff had launched was sold out after a few hours.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Yuru Chara Grand Prix (Japanese)
- ↑ Kumamon makes his Paris debut at Japan Expo with pictures (English)
- ↑ Nachrichten.de ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Teddy Bear Kumamon by Steiff
- ↑ NewsAktuell June 26, 2013 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Official Website (Japanese)
- KumamonTV on YouTube
- Photo series Kumamon
