Expo '25 gives the world a masterclass in mascots
Myaku-Myaku, the multieyed, red-and-blue blob serving as the official mascot for Expo 2025 in Osaka, has become more than just a face of the event — it's become the blueprint. Walk the grounds for more than five minutes and you'll see it: Countries from around the globe have brought their own mascots to the party, and many of them owe a debt to Japan's particular flavor of character culture.
Take Australia. Ruby the Roo, the plush kangaroo with a rather diplomatic smile, holds down greeting duties while her comrade, Koko the Koala, presumably naps offstage. Outside the German pavilion, a white blob named Circular, cheeks blushing a delicate peach — and somehow representing the circular economy — waddles out to greet excited visitors. Behind it, a Beethoven doppelganger mugs for selfies with the crowd.
Mascots at world expos aren't a new thing, and some nations in Osaka have wisely highlighted their own existing creations — Miffy, the minimalist Dutch bunny, makes an appearance at the Netherlands pavilion. But the wave of new mascots debuting in Osaka feels particularly indebted to Japan's approach: cute, weird, merch-ready. Nowhere is this more obvious than Italy's Italia-chan, a sparkly eyed anime girl clearly designed with Japanese aesthetics in mind.
Ruby the Roo greets people at the Australia pavilion at this year's expo. |
PATRICK ST. MICHEL
Japanese mascots aren't just cute, though, they're a winning soft-power strategy. Think Kumamon, the expressionless black bear who shills for Kumamoto Prefecture, or Funassyi, the unofficial shrieking pear from Funabashi in Chiba Prefecture, who rose to chaotic fame without any government approval. Over the past decade, Japan's yuru-kyara (local mascots that promote cities or organizations) have become international oddities — so much so that U.S. TV show 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver' devoted a segment to them, even creating its own mascot, Chiijohn: a bespectacled man-otter hybrid with a talent for civic-minded PSAs.
Some of the Expo '25 mascots lean hard into national branding. The U.S. brought Spark, a red, white and blue star-shaped character touting the 'spark of imagination and creativity.' He leads visitors through a medley of Americana: rugged landscapes, AI breakthroughs, space missions — set to the tune of an undeniably catchy (if slightly cringe) pop song.
A Beethoven character welcomes guest to the German pavilion at the expo. |
PATRICK ST. MICHEL
But here's the hard truth: No mascot at the Osaka Expo holds a candle to Japan's own. Compared to the kangaroo, the anime girl and the patriotic star, Myaku-Myaku is something else entirely — the mascot to end all mascots.
First off, Myaku-Myaku is a masterclass in Japanese design. It's cheerful but strange, approachable but alien — all bulbous red rings, eyeballs and a wide grin. Great characters aren't simply kawaii, though, they contain multitudes: Kumamon has a mischievous side and Funassyi revels in chaos. With Myaku-Myaku, there's a slightly disturbing physicality that repels some (those souvenir Myaku-Myaku cookies I bought were not a crowd-pleaser) but also helps it stand out in a sea of adorable figures. During the first few days of the expo, merchandise lines stretched long. Visitors wrapped red rings around their necks and even slipped into some on-trend Myaku-inspired sneakers.
Expo '25 may have opened under a cloud of skepticism — delays, budget concerns and head-scratching architecture haven't helped. But Myaku-Myaku, in all its gloopy glory, is already a bona fide hit.
People walk past German mascot Circular at Expo 2025 in Osaka. |
PATRICK ST. MICHEL
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
The kimono is more than an artifact and more than clothing. It is a concept artists will make their own
By Sasha Grishin The kimono garment, the national dress of Japan, carries within itself all of the magic and traditions of Japanese culture. The basic features of the kimono are fairly simple. It is a wrapped front garment with square sleeves that has a rectangular body where the left side is wrapped over the right, except in funerary use. The garment may be traced back to the Heian period as a distinctive style of dress for the nobility. In the Edo period (1603–1867) it came to a glorious culmination with colorful and expensive fabrics. The great poet Matsuo Basho once wrote 'Spring passes by / again and again in layers / of blossom-kimono'. Since childhood I've loved the mystical image 'blossom-kimono'. In 2020, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London staged their epic exhibition "Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk," where hundreds of garments, accessories, prints and photographs charted the history of the kimono from the 17th century through to the present. A new exhibition from the National Gallery of Victoria is similarly ambitious. Over 70 fabulous garments of exquisite craftsmanship – some made of silk with gold and silver embroidery and dazzling designs – have been assembled within a context of over 150 paintings, posters, wood block prints, magazines and decorative arts. Although many of the items have never been previously exhibited in Australia, most are now in the collection of the NGV, with many specifically acquired for this exhibition. Exquisite production There are seven newly acquired Edo-period silk and ramie kimonos, richly decorated with leaves, tendrils and falling snow. They provide us with a glimpse at the wealth and sophistication of the samurai and merchant classes of the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the highlights is the Uchikake Furisode wedding kimono with pine, bamboo, plum and cranes, from the early to mid-19th century. It is a display of exquisite taste with satin silk, shibori tie dyeing, and embroidery with gold thread. The birds and the vegetation seem to float on the surface and must have created an amazing sight when worn. The garment is simple and functional and, despite the exquisiteness of its production, it is also restrained in contrast to the conspicuous exuberance of some examples of 19th century European courtly dress. Some of these Edo period kimonos can become quite narrative-driven in their design, as with the Hitoe kosode kimono with themes alluding to eight Noh theatre plays of the late Edo period. Slightly smaller than the wedding kimono, that was 177.5 cm long as opposed to 167 cm, this one revels in a blue background on gauze satin silk with a multiplicity of little narrative scenes like an assembly of diverse stage sets. The exhibition also includes the work of contemporary Japanese kimono designers including Hiroko Takahashi, Jotaro Saito, Modern Antenna, Tamao Shigemune, Y&SONS, Rumi Rock and Robe Japonica. The kimono as a concept The kimono is more than an historic artifact, one where ideas and methods of production were to remain constant for centuries. It is also an idea that inspires designers working in international fashion houses. The NGV exhibition includes kimono-inspired works of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, John Galliano, Comme des Garçon, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Zambesi and Rudi Gernreich. Alexander McQueen's Gown, belt and sandals (Dégradé) (2007) is one of the takeaway memories from this exhibition. The humble functional kimono has been totally transfigured. To the silk-satin shell there have been added leather, metal and rubber accessories and synthetic shoulder pads. The purple and pink color scheme and the sweeping sleeves that trail along the ground create a mesmerising and dominant phantom-like character that owns and dominates the space. It is difficult not to be impressed by McQueen's vision, but we have now moved quite a long way from the kimono. The kimono is a wonderful concept – an armature on which to hang many different ideas. The beauty of this exhibition is that it frees the idea of a garment from a static piece of cloth, at best to be displayed on a dummy, to something approaching a concept in design that artists will clasp and from which they will create their own work. There are many rich nuances in the show, for example the superb almost monochrome and somewhat gothic men's undergarment (nagajuban) with graveyard, skulls and crescent moon (c.1930). At the same time, we have women's kimono with geometric design and accessories (c.1930) with its polychrome exuberance with reds, blacks and grays combining geometric motifs with soft organic feather-like forms. Basho's 'blossom-kimono' was a meditation on the passing of time and the hope that a young girl will live to experience wrinkles that come with old age. The kimono in this exhibition celebrates the passing of time and generational change within the life of an immortal idea about function, form and ideas of beauty. Sasha Grishin is Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. External Link © The Conversation
Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
'Miss Forest 2010'
Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara stands near one of his artworks called "Miss Forest 2010" at the Hayward Gallery in London on Monday, the first UK solo exhibition of his work at a public art gallery. The exhibition runs until Aug 31. © AP
Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
KFC Japan cooking up new yuzu Japanese citrus katsu sandwiches for summer
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan isn't shy about leaning just as heavily into the second geographic part of its name as it does the first. So while sure, they're happy to hook you up with a bucket of the Colonel's original-recipe fried chicken, they also regularly offer items that feature Japanese culinary creativity, and that's what's on the way with a new sandwich that's joining the KFC Japan menu: the Yuzu Shichimi Wafu Chicken Katsu Burger. We've got a lot to chew on linguistically there, so let's start at the beginning. Yuzu (pictured above) is a kind of Japanese citrus fruit that's somewhere between a lemon and a lime, but with a sharper finish to its flavor profile that better balances its sweet and tart notes. Shichimi (seen below) is a mixed chili pepper seasoning which often contains powdered orange peel, giving it a flavorful spiciness with a faintly citrusy impression. Meanwhile, wafu is a classical way of saying 'Japanese-style,' alluding to the teriyaki sauce that spread all across the chicken cutlet (katsu). That cutlet gets placed between whole-wheat buns, topped with shredded cabbage (the customary accompaniment for cutlets in Japan), and finished with a generous dollop of yuzu-juice and shichimi-infused mayonnaise sauce. The Yuzu Shichimi Wafu Chicken Katsu Burger can be had by itself for 490 yen, as part of a set with a medium drink and small order of fries for 900 yen, or, if you can't imagine going into KFC and not getting some straight-up fried chicken, as a combo with the drink, fries, and a piece of Original Recipe for 1,200 yen (both of the combos can be had for 160 yen less as lunch sets, offered between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). Appearing alongside the Yuzu Shichimi Wafu Chicken Katsu Burger on the menu is a regular Wafu Chicken Katsu Burger with conventional mayonnaise, for which a la carte and combo prices are all 50 yen less. Both sandwiches are on sale for a limited time. Source: KFC Japan via Entabe Insert images: Wikipedia/Dallae, Wikipedia/E136, KFC Japan Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- KFC adds a Katsu and Fillet Burger to its menu in Japan for a limited time -- KFC puts its own spin on Japanese flavours with the new Katsu and Fillet Burger -- KFC adds hash brown burgers to its menu in Japan External Link © SoraNews24
