2018 ゆるーきゃら Grand Prix Blog #9

I decided to stick with my theme of Japan, and here is why. This is because I am obsessed with the Japanese culture and I love how committed they are even now to the roots of their culture, and I love learning more and more things about them. Here is my article over their Prefecture mascots and the grand prix mascot contest.

This article is about the winner of the 2018 Yuru-kyara Grand Prix that occurred on Sunday. The winner of this prize was Kaparu from Shiki, a city in Saitama Prefecture. The creature that won is a motif of a mythical creature known as a かっぱ ( kappa ) or water goblin. The kappa is an amphibious よかい ( yokai ) demon found in traditional Japanese folklore. The mascot of the city’s public corporation to promote sports and culture. Kaparu garnered 889,346 votes in order to beat two municipal mascots that were supported by a structured poll. 

Kaparu had his competition though with the first runner-up, Ja-Bo, from Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, and third place went to Konyudo-kun, from Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture. They were voted by countless workers and civilians many times using a large number of multiple voting IDs. The two were close to Kaparu but they were not close enough, Ja-Bo garnered 843,682 votes while Konyudo-kun was right behind Ja-Bo with 807,592 received votes.

During the preliminary tally, Yokkaichi's mascot came in first place, only after the municipal government allocated over 10,000 IDs to its 4,000 workers. After stopping accepting the ballots, the event planning committee erased what seemed to be organized voting and publicize the final results.

These mascots are loved for their cute and lovable designs, they have that special ability to make people happy when they are seen, they bring out the kid in all of us. The Suits that they wear some are filled with air such as the iconic Pikachu costumes. 

The Japanese know how to make things appealing to the eye and the heart,  from creating cute food too adorable to eat from raising awareness for their culture and sports. They create something that all ages can be involved and attracted to, their news is not run by politics it has information of the simplest but yet compelling happenings in their country. They care about the simple things in life and know how to cherish them for what they are. We as Americans overlook those things and take them for granted getting caught up in the tangled yarn of our society. The people in America could learn a few things on respect from the Japanese, considering that their culture is almost built off of it