When I was about 9 years old, I remember my uncle showing my brother and I a music video of a chick mascot. The tune was very catchy and so the song stuck with me the rest of my life even though he only showed us the video once. I find myself going back to the video every couple of years because the song randomly pops into my head, and I feel the need to watch it again. Its not until now that I found out what the mascot was for and why it was created. ChickyBoo was created by a YouTube channel called RocketJump. I think they created a sort of parody video of the Kumamomon music video because the lyrics and tune are very similar. RocketJump created this video as a prank to its viewers, but people didn’t like ChickyBoo and so they disliked the video. Because of this, RocketJump only created 2 more videos with ChickyBoo in it, then he was never seen again. This was one of my earliest memories of seeing a Japanese style mascot and I will never forget him.

My favourite mascot from the ranking is ざおうさま (Zaosama) because he caught my eye. He is a very jolly looking king that is also very colourful. His description states that he lives in the depths of Miyagi Zao Forest because he is shy, he also likes hot springs, and he is a gourmet king. I found this funny because its relatable and I could imagine him as an actual person. I also like that he is a human because a lot of the mascots are food or animals, so a human mascot is more unique. Another character that I really like is Keroppi from Sanrio. He is my favourite out of all the Sanrio characters because he is a frog and one of my favourite animals are frogs. Keroppi looks the happiest out of a lot of the characters and he makes me happy when I look at him. My mom also likes keroppi a lot, so I knew him from a very early age and that’s one of the contributing factors to why he’s my favourite.

I think the most important factor of a mascot is its appearance. The first thing that people are going to see is the mascots appearance and their design. If people don’t like the look of the mascot, then they wouldn’t be interested, and the mascot would have little to no popularity. This will affect its revenue, activism, etc… because no one will be paying attention to what the mascot is doing and what its standing for. The design of the mascot should also be clearly related to the company, prefecture, city, etc… they are representing. When people see the mascot, they should easily tell where its from, this will help the creators get more attention. I think another important factor for a mascot is their personality. People will be interacting with the mascot so its important for the mascot to have a likeable personality. I also think a mascot with a unique personality would stick out in a good way because they will be different from the others and people might be more attracted to that. An exception to this is ちぃたん (Chiitan). He has a very bad personality and causes chaos wherever he goes. But he is not connected to any company or place in Japan, he is an independent mascot. I think the reason why people like him so much is because he is a rebel and the activities he partakes in are chaotic but funny. He also has a cute design which makes up for his bad personality.

I like having the idea of having a mascot for Coquitlam and other cities in the Greater Vancouver area. I think it will make living here more fun and less serious. Unlike Japan, I don’t think having city mascots will be as popular. People here wont care as much and would be less obsessed with the mascot than people in Japan. People over here are also judgmental to things that they think are “uncool” and “cringe” so having mascots might be subject to this thinking, like ChickyBoo. Japanese people love cute things and are more enthusiastic about characters and mascots. In Canada, there are many diverse people with different cultural and personal backgrounds so it would be hard to make a mascot that everyone would be interested in and care about. In Japan, many people are the same and as a society they like to blend and fit in to avoid attention. Working in Japan is very depressing because they work long hours, and their employers are harsher on them. I think that having these joyful mascots all around the country helps people cope with their stress and gives them a push to keep on working hard and to not give up. Mascots are always joyful and bring smiles to people, even in the form of Chiitan and they are a place of escape for people in need.