Yuru-Kyara is an important key word in modern Japanese culture. Yuru-Kyara is a coined word. Yuru roughly translates to relaxed or loose, and Kyara means character. Put the two words together and you get the idea of a "goofy character".
Mascots are probably common in your country, too. They are especially famous for cheering on sports. Other companies create a cartoon character as a symbol for their products. Yuru-Kyara is the same. But we distinguish them from ordinary mascots.
What do you think is the difference?
It's about local governments making it happen. Its purpose is to revitalize the local community. Each local government has created a Yuru-Kyara. The process of making this work is the same. They would gather ideas for the character through a public call for help.
One of the first successful characters born from this idea was Hikonyan. He was created to revitalize the town of Hikone. The character is a combination of the region's famous samurai helmet and the legendary cat. This quickly gained popularity due to the perfection and familiarity of the design.
Knowing of this success, many local authorities emulated it. Local officials invited the public to come up with cute characters. They received ideas from many citizens. Most of them were amateur artists. But in the selection process, uniqueness took precedence over perfection. As a result, one after another, quirky characters were born. They are mascots that defy conventional thinking. They look eccentric and lack perfection. That's an important point. People like to see them in their unfinished form, as if they still have room to grow.
Yuru-Kyara is used for local events, tourism promotion, and other governmental purposes. They can also be used to commemorate a milestone year, such as a town's decades-long anniversary, when they invite public participation in character design.
Why did Yuru-Kyara succeed? Rural areas are poorly financed and depopulated. The idea to revitalize Yuru-Kyara is also drying up. However, Yuru-Kyara, which is an open call for ideas, is inexpensive to create. T-shirts, towels, pins badges, posters, key chains and other merchandise will also be sold. In addition, Yuru-Kyara has the support of the children and the whole family on its side.
Not every Yuru-Kyara mascot succeeds. It has its share of failures. They have to be tried and tested. But there are many success stories out there. This is a fact. Especially for regions that want to attract tourism, they need a mascot that is known throughout the country. The masses competed and tried to create interesting content.
Yuru-Kyara is not only required to participate in a parade, but also to perform. If he does something interesting, the media will adopt him. It's very good publicity. In this way, a lot of very unique and famous characters were born from many regions.
You can also look for Yuru-Kyara on the internet. It will be a strange and funny character discovery.
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