With almost all events cancelled due to the spread of the coronavirus, local mascot characters have fewer opportunities to appear in public. Now, they are finding new roles, such as calling for virus-infection prevention measures by appearing in press conferences while wearing a face mask and showing how to wash hands correctly on the internet. While they exude a casual demeanor that is their charm, they are keeping a tight vigilance over helping to stop the spread of the virus.
Yamagata Prefecture's mascot character "Kitekero-kun" has grabbed the spotlight for sporting a huge face mask that resembles a bed sheet. The motif of the mascot is the prefecture's geographical shape, which looks like a person's profile. The western and southern parts of the prefecture, which correspond to the nose and mouth part of the mascot, are entirely covered by the special mask, which is 155 centimeters wide and 80 centimeters long at the center and 40 centimeters long at the edges.
Since mid-May, it has attended press conferences together with Yamagata Gov. Mieko Yoshimura to show the importance of wearing a mask. According to the prefectural government's tourism promotion department, the mascot character is calling on citizens to wear masks when going out.
Other local mascot characters are appearing on the video-sharing platform YouTube. Meihime, the mascot character of Meiwa, Mie Prefecture, uploaded a YouTube video where it makes a mask using a piece of the town's specialty fabric called Miitoori. Another mascot character, "Ito-kun" of Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, hilariously explains that the two-meter social distance is equal to the length of three negi green onions, the city's specialty, lined up end to end.
"Wash your hands carefully, even between fingers. Twist your hand around your thumbs to wash them, too." In a YouTube video, the mascot characters Bonchi-kun of Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture; Miyazaki Ken dogs of the prefecture; and Kosumo of Kobayashi, the same prefecture, explain the correct way of washing your hands while dancing to upbeat music. Sometimes, the mascots ask viewers to wash hands while zooming in on the hands of Bonchi-kun.
Another unique example is a mascot character participating in the sales of local specialties. Shinjo-kun of Susaki, Kochi Prefecture, hastily remade the online shopping website for its goods and opened a new website selling local specialties people used to go to stores to buy. Sales of such items had declined due to stay-at-home requests following the outbreak of the coronavirus. Since the website opened on April 22, sales have come to around 150 million yen yen.
"We want more people to eat delicious food in Susaki," Shinjo-kun said.
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