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Mascots in Japan( Télécharger le fichier original )par Flora Mitsushima ISCOM Paris - MA International Global Communications 2015 |
ConclusionMatthew ALT, an expert on Japanese popular culture who has written several books on Japan's imaginary monsters and folklore, told Forbes74 on March 2015 that «Mascots are only recent example of a Japanese predilection for personification and characterization of things that extends back for centuries. The roots run deep: Japan's said to be home to eight million gods. [...]This is an animistic, polytheistic culture. Anything is fair game for personification in Japan Ð foods, phones, tools, even feces, anthropomorphic versions of which are often spotted hawking constipation cures in Japanese drugstores. When you look at the world that way, nearly anything can have a spirit or spark of life. Even an anthropomorphic pear or rather a fairy in the form of a wise-cracking anthropomorphic pear. » As he said and as we saw in this applied research paper, the use of mascot is not a new trend in Japan. It has been used for years and years and it's not about to disappear. The Japanese are deeply attached to their characters and their power amongst people is increasing. The link between the massive use of mascots and the love that the Japanese have for anything with a childlike, innocent and harmless profile, is undeniable. Whatever their profiles, companies, cities, regions and institutions use cute mascots to better communicate towards the Japanese. Some are old, like the Tokyo Police Mascot, and some are new, such as LINE, which after 4 years became so powerful that it is on its way to conquer the USA.75 People in the archipelago are deeply attached to those mascots and Western organizations have to embrace this trend to strategically integrate themselves into the local culture and communicate more efficiently with Japanese target audiences. As we showed, endorsement by renowned people is really important in the Land of the Rising Sun, but if well planned and thought-through a mascot can be more cost- 74 ADELSTEIN Jack.(March 2015) «Funassyi: The Pacifist Pear Fairy Ready To Take On The World, 1.2 Million Japanese Already Love It» in Forbes 75 BYFORD, Sam. (August 7, 2014) «Line's bears and bunnies are coming for America». in The Verge. 33 effective than a celebrity. It can be used for TV commercials, in media or public events but also to allow the brand to increase its profits with the sale of by-products. This is an advantage that human celebrities can't bring to a company. LINE is trying to implant itself in the USA, but is it possible to believe that Americans will like those kawaii characters? Is a passion for cuteness something that can only work in Japan? Moreover, as explained in an article of the New York Times76, American users might prefer explicit stickers with smiles, tears or words than ambiguous stickers with half smiles. The article quotes a discussion between an American who asked « What's the point of a half-smile? » and a Japanese who answered « It's difficult to express in words. That's why we use stickers. » Finally, it might be difficult to imagine LINE as a big success in the USA, as no Japanese software business has so far been a success in North America. But with well-known Japanese companies such as NINTENDO or SANRIO (Hello Kitty) and the Tokyo Olympics Games 2020 as springboards, LINE might be the first company to introduce its favorite mascots to the world. 76 TABUCHI, Hiroko. (May 2015, 2014) «No Time to Text? Say It With Stickers » in The New York Times. 34 Bibliography Books HARRISON, Edward & John, Idle Idol, New-York, 2010, Jake Davis, 144 pages AOKI, Sadashige,\u12461ÉL- 57\u12479É^- )1- (Kyarakutaa Pawaa), Tokyo, 2014, NHK Shuppan, 231 pages BROWN Stephen, PONSONBY-McCABE Sharon, Brand Mascots: And Other Marketing Animals, New-York, 2014, BROWN Stephen, PONSONBY-McCABE Sharon, 312 Pages MATTHEW Alt, YODA Hiroko, Hello, Please!, San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 240 pages Thesis BIRKETT Mary, The Pragmatics Of Kawaii (Cute), University Of Michigan, 2012, 118 pages BARROWS Lisa, Planning with Character: Gotouchi Kyara and Place Branding in Japan, University of Columbia, 2014, 61 pages OOCHi, Debra, Yuru kyara, humanity, and the uncanny instability of borders in the construction of Japanese identities and aesthetics, Miyazaki International College, in progress. 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(June 12, 2014) «'World Press Trends 2014' Debunks Newspapers' Death» in The Huffington Post Media. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/magda-abufadil/world-press-trends-2014-debunks-newspapers-death_b_6279960.html (Accessed : Avril 2015) ADELSTEIN Jack.(March 2015) «Funassyi: The Pacifist Pear Fairy Ready To Take On The World, 1.2 Million Japanese Already Love It» in Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/jadelstein/2015/03/23/funassyi-the-pacifist-pear-fairy-ready-to-take-on-the-world-1-2-million-japanese-already-love-it/ (Accessed : March 2015) AFP.(April 6,2015) « Japan Mascots Face Cull or Combination » in Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3027822/Japan-mascots-face-cull-combination.html (Accessed : April 6, 2015) ALISA. (July 13, 2014) «Must-buy omiyage: check out this delicious tradition!» in Tsunagu Japan. https://www.tsunagujapan.com/omiyage-a-tradition-of-gift-giving-you-have-to-know-about/ (Accessed: January 18, 2015) BASEEL, Casey. (January 6, 2014) «Why does Japan love fictional characters so much?» in Japan Today. http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/why-does-japan-love-fictional-characters-so-much (Accessed: November 25, 2015) BYFORD, Sam. (August 7, 2014) «Line's bears and bunnies are coming for America». in The Verge. http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/7/5977195/chat-app-line-is-coming-for-america (Accessed : January 19, 2015) CHAVEZ, Amy (March 31, 2012) « A guide to Jizo, guardian of travelers and the weak » in Japan Times http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/03/31/our-lives/a-guide-to-jizo-guardian-of-travelers-and-the-weak/#.VTaYva1_Oko (Accessed : March 6, 2015) CLEGG, Cara (February 8, 2014) «SoftBank's mascot dog behaving badly at bizarre press conference » in Rocket News 24. http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/02/08/softbank-dog-behaving-badly-at-bizarre-press-conference/ (Accessed : December 3, 2014) CORKILL, Edan. (April 29, 2012) «Otosan, Japan's top dog» in Japan Times http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/04/29/general/otosan-japans-top-dog/ #.VTY0jiFViko (Date Accessed: December 3, 2014) 37 FUJII, Moeko. (June 28, 2013) «The Branding of Kumamon: The Bear That Stole 38 Japan's Heart» in Japan Real Time http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/06/28/the-branding-of-kumamon-the-bear-that-stole-japans-heart/ (Date Accessed: December 3, 2014) GAYLE Damien. (January 23,2013) «How cute animals on the internet bring out the savage» in Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2267110/How-cute-animals-internet-bring-savage-Study-finds-aggression-NORMAL-response-adorable-images.html (Accessed: April 16, 2015) GHOSH, Shona. (February 18, 2015) « Burberry brings London Fashion Week to Tokyo with Line messaging app » in Marketing Magazine http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1334418/burberry-brings-london-fashion-week-tokyo-line-messaging-app (Accessed: April 21, 2015) HIMAYA, Hiroshi (March 12, 2014) « Mascot Kumamon turns cute into bear market » in The Japan Times. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/12/business/economy-business/mascot-kumamon-turns-cute-into-bear-market/#.VTaPTa1_Okp (Accessed: February 3, 2014) MASSON, Morgane (November 30, 2014) « Super Victor, la mascotte de l'Euro 2016, déjà moqué par les internautes » in The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2014/11/30/super-victor-mascotte-euro-2016-fait-rire-les-internautes_n_6243254.html PULVER, Jonas (March 26, 2015) «Dans la peau d'un champignon géant» in Le Temps. http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/7e131d88-d328-11e4-9f2b-2a6998eb792a/ Dans_la_peau_dun_champignon_g%C3%A9ant (Accessed: March 26, 2015) QUIGLEY, J.T. (November 27, 2014) «Line crowns Creators Market Award winners, reveals $30M revenue from user-created stickers» in Techinasia 39 https://www.techinasia.com/line-creators-market-awards-30m-revenue/ (Accessed : January 19, 2015) RAVEN, David. (September 2013) «Japan prison gets cuddly mascot» in Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/japan-prison-gets-cuddly-mascot-2266734 (Accessed: February 3, 2015) SEKIGUCHI Tokyo. (March 15, 2012) «Sayonara Denko-Chan: Tepco Unplugs Cartoon Mascot» in Japan Real Time. http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/03/15/sayonara-denko-chan-tepco-unplugs-cartoon-mascot/ (Accessed: April 15, 2015) SPOTTISWOODE, Jocelyn. (September 2013) «Japanese prison adopts mascot» in The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10304520/Japanese-prison-adopts-mascot.html (Accessed : February 3, 2015) STUCKY, Nathalie-Kyoko. (March 9, 2015) «Japan's Peacenik Pear Fairy» in The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/09/japan-s-peacenik-pear-fairy.html (Accessed : March 10, 2015) TABUCHI, Hiroko. (May 2015, 2014) «No Time to Text? Say It With Stickers » in The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/technology/no-time-to-text-apps-turn-to-stickers.html (Accessed: April 24, 2015) TRENDS IN JAPAN (August 2013). ««KUMAMON»--JAPAN'S MOST POPULAR BEAR» in Web Japan http://web-japan.org/trends/11_culture/pop130812.html VINCENT, Alice. (March 5, 2015). «Meet Funassyi: the Japanese pear mascot who loves Aerosmith» in The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/11452085/Meet-Funassyi-the-Japanese-pear-mascot-who-loves-Aerosmith.html (Accessed : March 6, 2015) WILLIAM, (March 10, 2015) «Funassyi TV anime series, starts March 30th» in Japan Trends. http://www.japantrends.com/funassyi-anime-tv-series-starts-march-30th/ (Accessed : March 11, 2015) WOW Japan, «Yuru-Kyara Mascots : The Cute Side of Big Business Japan» in WOW Japan. http://www.wowjpn.com/2122 (Date Accessed : April 12, 2015) Videos «Emperor of Japan Akihito and Kumamon dance,» last modified April 23, 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2cxMS_YHr8 «Superstar mascot Funassyi: "I'm a symbol of what perseverence can do", last modified March 5, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7wiiMi2BcU « Tommy Lee Jones in Boss-SoftBank crossover commercials part2 », last modified September 24, 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPXL5slQUmY Websites Japan Trends - Mascot category http://www.japantrends.com/tag/mascots/ Japanese Mascots Official Online Catalogue 40 41 http://localchara.jp/ U.S. Embassy Tokyo http://connectusa.jp/tom/ Statistics Bureau - Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication http://www.stat.go.jp/ Japan Police Mascots Official Website http://www.police.macanow.com/ World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers http://www.wan-ifra.org/microsites/world-press-trends Kyodo PR Official Website http://www.kyodo-pr.co.jp/index.php Nogi Shrine in Tokyo - Official Website http://www.nogijinja.or.jp/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nogi_Shrine_(Tokyo) NTT Docomo's Website http://docomodake.net/ 42 Appendices Appendix 1 Dentsu Press Release 43 Appendix 2 Survey - Japanese Organizations's Communications - 2015 48 Appendix 3 Interview of Takuya TEJIMA - LINE's Application Developer 50 Appendix 4 Funassyi, the anthropomorphic pear 52 Appendix 5 Tokyo Police Department's Mascot - Pipo-kun 53 Appendix 6 TEPCO's Mascot - Denko-chan's by-products 54 Appendix 7 U.S. Embassy Tokyo's Mascot - Tom - Video screenshots 55 Appendix 8 Interview of German SAA - Kyodo Deputy Director of International
56 Appendix 1 : Dentsu Press Release dentsu
43 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 27, 2014 Dentsu Announces "2014 Hit Products in Japan" --The movie "Frozen," talking mascot characters and Tokyo
Skytree Dentsu Inc (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President & CEO: Tadashi Ishii; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today the release of its "2014 Hit Products in Japan" report. Produced as part of a series that has been chronicling hit products since 1985, the latest report examines major trends that represented the consumer mindset in 2014. It is based on an Internet survey of Japanese consumers carried out in November 2014 by Dentsu Macromill Insight, Inc. Although 2014 was a year in which Japan and the Japanese people themselves regained confidence as a result of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Abenomics policies to stimulate the Japanese economy, it was a "year of ambivalence" in which an awareness of the need to economize fueled by the consumption tax increase in April intersected with aggressive consumption. According to a close analysis of the rankings made by the Dentsu Innovation Institute, the fact that there is a lot of bright, cheerful content such as the movie Frozen, talking mascot characters such as Funassyi, the Yo-kai Watch games, manga and toys, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter"' and Halloween costumes in the top-ranked products shows that although people do not want to return to the gloomy deflation era and yet still do not have the courage to move forward with confidence, there are cheerful, comfortable feelings propping them up. Although growth is stagnant, the strength of the Japanese economy, Japan's participation in overseas events such as the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, the Japanese Nobel laureates who invented blue LEDs, global recognition of the Tomioka Silk Mill as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO, and the ongoing development in Japan of electric vehicles (including fuel cell-powered vehicles) and jet aircraft have enhanced the country's profile both at home and abroad. 1/5 In addition, lightweight wearable terminals and other futuristic technology applications are dentsu 44 appearing one after another, and are making inroads into our lifestyles. 3D printers and public Wi-Fi are technologies that are closely related with our daily lives, and will boast expectations toward lifestyle innovations. The following top 20 products (which include some popular content and social phenomena) were selected from 130 popular items and services by 1,200 Internet survey respondents aged between 20 and 69. The figures in parentheses are last year's rankings. Previously unranked products are indicated with (-). 2014 Hit Products No. 1: Frozen (Walt Disney animated movie) (-) No. 2: Talking mascot characters (10*) No. 3: Tokyo Skytree (1) No. 4: Free voice call apps (such as LINE) (13) No. 5: Vo-kai Watch (games, manga and toys) (-) No. 6: Smartphones (3) No. 7: SNSs such as Facebook that require real name registration (24) No. 8: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" (Universal Studios Japan) (-) No. 9: Convenience store freshly brewed coffee (7) No. 10: Robot cleaners (4) No. 11: NHK television morning drama series (-) No. 12: Sochi Winter Olympic Games (-) No. 13: Hybrid cars (2) No. 14: Japanese Nobel laureates (for blue LEDs) (-) No. 15: Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) (Japanese anime movie) (22) No. 16: Halloween costumes (60) No. 17: Tablet devices (35) No. 18: Tomioka Silk Mill (-) No. 19: Premium beer (-) No. 20: Compact cars/K-cars (engine displacement up to 660 cc) (16) *Last year "local mascot characters" came in at No. 10. 2/5 This year, a "2015 Expected Hit Products" list was compiled using the products selected for the °It has been popular this year. / It is popular now." category as a base and then focusing on those selected for the "It will become popular" category. 2015 Expected Hit Products No. 1: Electric vehicles (including fuel cell-powered vehicles) No. 2: 3D printers No. 3: Low-priced smartphones No. 4: Jet aircraft manufactured in Japan No. 5: 4K television sets No. 6: Thinking about how to lead your life in your later years and preparations for the end of your life No. 7: Smartwatches No. 8: Car sharing No. 9: Public Wi-Fi No. 10: Wearable cameras Dentsu "Hit Product Recognition Survey" Overview
45 Top Five Hit Products in Earlier Years (2013 to 2004) 2013
3/5 2012 dentsu
46
2011
2010
2009
2008
4/5
dentin 47 2007
2006
2005
2004
Contact: Shusaku Kannan Senior Manager Corporate Communications Division 5/5 Telephone: (813) 6216-8042 E-mail: s,kannan@dentsu.co.to
48 Appendix 2 : Relation between Japanese and Communication Survey 2015 Flora Mitsushima Inter4B Applied Research Paper Do you use Line's Do you think western Stickers to organizations should Do you use Line? communicate? use mascots in Japan?
No
49 Open questions What do you think about mascots as guests on TV show? »
- « Maybe brand can create innovative mascots - « We already think that western companies are cool and appealing, so it can be a way to make them more attractive by adapting themselves to the culture Translated from Japanese Original name of the survey : 8170)75-' KT Amongst 50 Japanese actually living in Japan LINE Corporation
Line Corp. is a Japanese company which develops mobile applications and Internet services. It was launched in 2011 the Line Smartphone App which allows users to make calls and messaging with others users. Oden-kun
Kumamon
Appendix 3 : Interview of Takuya TEJIMA
Application Developer I Line Corporation I Tokyo
Hello Takuya, could you introduce yourself? My name is Takuya Tejima. I'm a 30 years old Application Developer working in Tokyo at Line Corporation What can you say about mascots? I like it, I think they are really funny and cute. They are really famous in Japan and often used by companies to give messages to their customers. Which are your 3 favorite mascots? Oden-kun Kuma-Mon LINE characters (Cody and Brown) Why do you think that Japanese companies use mascots to promote themselves amongst Japanese customers? I think this is because mascots have a positive impact for customers and the eye-catching characters may be easier to remember than the company itself (like who she is, what her logo is etc.). The characters may unconsciously remind of the company/organization. Mascots have been rated as the 2nd preferred trend in Japan in 2014 whereas they were 12th in 2013, why?/what do you think about that fact? I guess it might be u because of » Funasshi, as he became incredibly successful recently. Also because LINE Creators Market opened in 2014 and it allows any company or person to sell its own stamps on the u Line Stamps Shop ». It gives 50 1 Flora Mitsushima Inter4B Applied Research Paper opportunities to promote anything through u cute stamps » which are most of the time mascots. Line characters
51 Do you think that western companies should use it to implant themselves in Japan? And why? Yes, they should use it because as you can see it has a potential to hit everybody and to promote a company easily. How is it possible for western to fail regarding the use of mascots? Funasshi This pear mascot was created for the local revitalization of Funabashi-shi in Chiba, which was considered as a a not fancy region n. It now appears at events, festivals, TV programs and commercials. Line Market LINECREATORS It lets anyone create and sell their own stickers. Often used in Japan, it's now used by companies worldwide in USA or Europe. In France My Little Paris launched its own stamps and Burberry did it for UK with a partnership with Line's Mascots.
Companies have to be careful because some characters might not be appreciated by Japanese, as the culture is different, the message, the spokesperson also has to be different. In almost every cases, mascots are a metaphor of something so it's important to find the good inspiration from something meaningful (the place where the company is from, or its personality etc.) But if it is well studied, it can be a huge success amongst Japanese people. Do you have something else to say? Companies don't have to think that mascots are for children, they have to think that adults will also be concerned by it. So it can be childish but meaningful for both adults and children, such as Cony and Brown* who are cute mascots but who are also in couple, which means that they u act » like adults: romantic diner stamps, jealousy from Cony etc. 2 To finish, I can tell you that mascots may have a huge economic potential, not only in Japan but also in other countries. (LINE stickers market is a good example of it) Appendix 4: Funassyi, the anthropomorphic pear
With the models Cara DELEVIGNE and Miranda KERR At the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan 52
Print for children's prevention Female Police officers with Pipo-kun Police Stations' front windows 53 Appendix 5 : Tokyo Police Department Mascot - Pipo-kun 54 Appendix 6 : TEPCO's Denko-chan's by-products
55 Appendix 7: Tom U.S. Embassy Tokyo's Mascot - Video screenshots
Appendix 8 : Interview of German SAA - Flora Milsushima Inter4ô Applied ResearCh Paper
Deputy Director of International Operations KYODO PRI Tokyo
Hello German, could you introduce yourself? My name is German Saa and I have been living and working in Japan for the last 23 years since I carne here In early 1992 from my hometown in Los Angeles. I have been involved in the marketing and PR field for about 20 years, with the last 13 years at one of the biggest and oldest domestic PR firms in Japan. My main duties are to provide strong support to the business development operations of the agency and drive the marketing strategy and communications needs of our clients. My major areas of expertise include gathering and analyzing relevant info from all media sources, event planning, implementing and follow-up PR operations. Also, interfacing between Japanese and foreign business practices. Currently I run the International Operations division supporting all of Kyodo`s multinational clients where I plan, implement and follow up on localized communications programs for major corporations such as EMC, LSI Logic, Cisco, Guam Tourism Bureau, Singapore Airlines, Shangri-La Hotels and among other well-known global companies. Could you tell me 5 different ways that Japanese companies/institutions use to promote themselves? Based on my experience, major Japanese companies promote themselves to the general Japanese public in the following five 56 ISCOM PARIS 2015 I Flora Matsushima inter4B Applied Research Paper ways : through marketing campaigns, since they can be used accross all sectors of through TV commercials, through consumer events, through strategic PR programs targeting media; and through community relations programs such as sponsorships of community social programs or ecological activities. Japan is also known for promoting through mascots, do you like them? As a regular consumer I actually do because it helps me identify a brand, a product, a company or even a service much quicker than if just a 'name' or a logo is thrown at me. And I believe in a market where females (20 -50) are usually the strongest audience that every company targets because they are usually the ones with the income, the time and the willingness to become the shopping trend setters, then it makes sense to come up with these kinds of cutesy mascot characters to familiarize the target audiences to whatever a company is trying to push into the market. As a PR professional, I think these mascots are an effective tool -if properly used- to quickly establish awareness about a client's product, service or even the entire organization. They are also multi-functional a comrns program, i.e. in a TV commercial, in a series of consumer events, as background in media events and most importantly, they are pretty cost-effective compared to the expensive alternative, which is celebrities. What can you say about them? In Japan, these types of "mascots" are usually referred to as "Yuru kyara," which roughly translates as 'wobbly characters." I would say they are one category below the more well-known mascots of famous companies such as Mickey Mouse for Disneyland, Mummy for Finnair, Singapore Girl for Singapore Airlines, Sanrio's Hello Kitty cat which now it turns out its creator said it wasn't a kitty cat but a little girl; the white duck for AFLAC, the Alnu white dog for Softbank, etc.
J u f ph f4 ~7~lF ALFAC's mascot Sofbank's mascot These yuru-kyara mascots, which are made mainly for promotional purposes, have three main traits: 57 ISCOM PARIS 2015 2 Flora Mitsushima Inter4B
and original message about a local or 'hometown" specialty or characteristic
Which are your 3 favorite mascots? My three favorite ones are : * Funashii is supposed to unofficially represent Funabashi (a city in Chiba prefecture) and I like him because he is so wild and unscripted. The
* Kumamon, is Kumamoto prefecture ambassador (official). He is extremely
Applied Research Paper * Marimokkori - He is from Otaru in the Hokkaido prefecture. He is quite old Why do you think that Japanese companies use it to promote themselves amongst Japanese customers? Simply because they are easy to identify with for all audiences and are sort of cheap to produce, maintain and keep reusing as many times as the campaign requires them to. Just like 'Marimokkori,' they can last for decades ! At the beginning there were a few companies and organizations using them but now it has spread to cities, prefectures and 58 ISCOM PARIS 2015 3 Flora Mitsushima Inter4B Applied Research Paper even the government uses them for some of their programs. In actuality, they have always been there but for the last few years, there has been a clear boom where these characters are all over the place, on TV, on posters, at events, etc. If your company (Kyodo) uses/used mascots, what can you tell me about the using? (facts, numbers etc.) As an agency we do not use these mascots to promote ourselves but we do have clients that have used them as part of their overall promotions programs. One thing we often recommend our clients though is that if we plan and execute a media event, we make sure to tell clients to bring out their mascot to the event. Not necessarily as the main part of the event's program because media is there for newsworthy information and not to see a yuru kyara, but to be part of the signage and branding. That way, the corporation's name is easily recognizable besides also bringing color to the event itself. Mascots have been rated as the 2nd preferred trend in Japan in 2014 whereas they were 12d in 2013, why?/what do you think about that fact? Academically speaking, the popularity of yuru kyara can be linked to the Japanese affinity for local bonds to non-human characters and their tendency to humanize groups and blur the boundary between human beings and nature. These tendencies can be seen in the traditional "Yokai," strange apparitions from Japanese folklore such as the 'tengu' and kappa. In terms of their adoption by local entities and agencies, yuru kyara are less likely to cause image problems that can arise from human sponsors, i.e. celebrities (controversies, etc.). Also, the cute and lovable aspects have been a hit with the Japanese public and have defined some of Japan's most popular brands and normal characters (such as Hello Kitty). In Japan, both the yuru (wobbly-Hess or slackness) and kawail (cute/lovable) aspect have become very popular trends in both fashion and art, so much so that it has already transcended to outside markets, especially USA and Europe. Do you think that western companies should use it to implant themselves in Japan? If yes/no why? I did some research on this and read that Japanese intellectual Kenichi Mogi believes that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be the 59 ISCOM PARIS 2015 4 Flora Mitsushima Inter4B Applied Research Paper perfect opportunity for Japan to introduce Japanese culture naturally, is portrayed and spread even more these characters correctly and how it could be well-received). across the world. However, it may be extremely difficult and dangerous for western How is it possible to create a link between companies to create a Japan specific yuru the use of mascots and other tools? (ad, PR kyara. It almost universally represents and etc.) have deep Japanese ties to local cities, prefectures, and goods. It would be very Well, first of all a specific campaign would difficult for most western companies to pull have to be created first for the mascot itself this off in its current form, as many of their to become well-known among target products have originated or started outside audiences. Once a clear and direct link of Japan. The exception would be for between the mascot and the company or products that were specifically made for organization that it supposedly represents is Japan and for Japanese needs that have a established, then it can be used in the same strong effect on local towns, cities, regions way a logo is used for all sorts of promotional and prefectures. activities. Second, the planners must make A more effective method for most western sure that the mascot is used regularly, companies to take advantage of this new uniformly and closely linked to what it trend would be to create yuru kyara's that represents, no matter the platform (N, online relate to their companies' original country or or print). Last but not least, the mascot must city. After this is done, introduce these be protected just like a logo would, about characters into Japan, which is how yuru copyrights and making sure it is not overused kyara's work in their current form (one city's for other purposes than to promote the character becomes popular in different company or organization. If the mascot gets locations around Japan). If the cute and involved in other activities, then confusion lovable aspect, creativeness, and original would reign and its popularity will decrease meanings are good enough, it could become gradually. a 'hit' inside of Japan as well (AFLAC's white duck, while not an exact yuru kyara, is an example of a mascot that has adapted to 60 ISCOM PARIS 2015 5 |
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