Do you like the idea of having a mascot for your city? Would it work here or is this something that can only exist in Japan?

Yes, I like the idea of having a mascot for the city so that it makes boring day-to-day activities fun, when you go to your local city office provincial/governmental offices, having a mascot there helps change the mood and helps people feel more relaxed they also work better with kids as they will be less afraid or nervous, they also help the businesses and people directly by allowing the residents of the city to use the mascot it increases the number of tourists that they get, I don’t think that this could only exist in Japan, my reason being that if they added a mascot here people would love it, and if I had the chance to add a mascot I would do it.

What is the most important factor of a mascot? Appearance, popularity, personality, activism, revenue??

The most important factor of a mascot is their Appearance, activism, and popularity. The mascot has to appear nice so that kids like it and they have to support a good cause because having a nice looking mascot that has no meaning wouldn’t make any sense because the mascot has no goal so people cant relate to it, and popularity is important as it shows whether or not people like it or relate with it, having a mascot with none of these means that the mascot isn’t well-liked/received by the people.

Do you have a favorite mascot? Why? (you can browse all mascots from the Mascots by Ranking link) 

My favorite mascot is TKPG (Tk penguin), its the mascot of the Japanese band 凛として時雨 ( ling tosite sigure), the reason that I like this mascot is that I feel as though it is funny to have an animal that people see as calm representing the band and their playing.