Mascots

I've written about local city logos a few times over the years. (Here and here, for example.) I don't remember if I ever said it on the blog, but at some point I came to the conclusion that most of our cities and towns are generally not different enough to have logo symbols, so my advice was that they should content themselves with their names in nice lettering or typographic treatments.

Since then, I became aware that it's common in Japan for towns of all sorts of sizes to have mascots that are specific to them. I don't know what set of circumstances combine to make this possible, but I imagine it has to do with the much greater age of the places and the cultural cohesiveness of Japan.

Whatever it is, I wish we could have mascots that were as fun as theirs. It seems as though American mascots — usually for sports teams — are racist and dumb at least 50% of the time, and even when they're not, they're jingoistic (maybe that's synonymous with stupid), or at least they aren't fun.

Here are some of the Japanese mascots I've discovered via the Mondo Mascots Twitter account, which is also on Instagram under the same name. They always exist as both a cartoon graphic and a plush suit that can be worn by a person. Most are for cities, villages, or prefectures, but sometimes they are for causes.

The text below is all quoted from Mondo Mascots:

Muyan encourages citizens of Japan's Sakai City to properly dispose of their trash... by wearing a waste paper basket on his head:

Mametan, a walking bean pod, is the agricultural mascot for Gifu, Japan:

When Tenju-san the ginseng tea fairy (a mascot from Ehime, Japan) sees a smile he gets 100 times bigger:

Kurihei, a chestnut mixed with a bear, is the mascot for the village of Yamae in Kumamoto, Japan:

Komoshika, a wide-eyed goat-antelope with wild rice stems for horns and kamaboko (fish cake) cheeks, is the mascot for Komono town, Japan:

Prince Takko, a rather regal garlic prince,  is the mascot for Takko, a town in Aomori, Japan:

Chikinan Bancho, a delinquent chicken, is the mascot of Nobeoka City, Japan:

Tohyamamaru (the mascot of Tohyamago, a village in Nagano, Japan) is a mountain with a path winding around it, a cloud for a nose, and a hot tub hat:

I shudder to think of the committee processes that would be needed to arrive at concepts for U.S. cities and towns, let alone agree on final designs of the mascots. Much as I dislike the specifics of the Philadelphia Flyers' mascot Gritty, I'm glad that it's so off-the-wall and unlike others. 

What would a Saint Paul mascot be like, if we weren't bound by anything ordinary? I have no idea. 

Maybe a big bag of guilt that tries to have a good time anyway.