Kumamon

Kumamon (くまモン) is a mascot created by the government of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was created in 2010 for a campaign created to draw tourists to the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened.^[1] Kumamon subsequently became nationally popular, and in late 2011, was voted top in a nationwide survey of mascots, collectively known as yuru-chara, garnering over 280,000 votes.^[2]^[3] Following his success in the contest, Kumamoto earned ¥11.8 billion (US$120 million, £79 million, €93 million) in merchandising revenue for the first half of 2012, after having only earned ¥2.5 billion (US$26 million, £17 million, €20 million) throughout all of 2011.^[4]^[5] Kumamon enjoys tremendous popularity throughout the world.^[6]

Economic impact

In just two years, Kumamon has generated US$1.2 billion in economic benefits for his region, including tourism and product sales, as well as US$90 million worth of publicity, according to a recent Bank of Japan study.^[7] Sales of Kumamon items have reached ¥29.3 billion in 2012, up from ¥2.5 billion in 2011.^[8]

The Bank of Japan also estimated that Kumamon generated ¥123.2 billion in revenue during a two-year period starting from 2011.^[6]

Success

A large part of Kumamon's success can be attributed to its cuteness.^[8] The unusual marketing strategy of free licensing has also contributed to Kumamon's commercial success;^[8] Kumamoto Prefecture grants usage rights for free to any individual group as long as the products promote goods and services from the prefecture.^[6]^[8] In 2018, this license was extended to foreign businesses, with aims to both boost worldwide recognition and increase tourism to the prefecture. Governor Ikuo Kabashima has said that he "want[s] to spread the Kumamon brand to the world."^[9]

Cultural impact

This mascot appears in a minor cameo in the 2014 video game Yo-Kai Watch 2, and made an appearance in Yo-kai Watch: The Movie, following the main characters (Whisper, Nate, and Jibanyan) around. Kumamon has gained popularity as an internet meme when images of the character, usually around a large bonfire, were captioned with text reading "Why? For the glory of Satan, of course!".^[10]

Since 3 September 2018, Kumamon began regularly in-character videos uploading to its YouTube account.^[11]^[12]