Getting to Know Kumamon, Japan’s Superstar Mascot

World-famous yuru kyara Kumamon. (© 2010 Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamon)

Kumamon makes his South American debut at an event at the Japan House in Sāo Paulo, Brazil, in November 2018. (© Jiji)

The project’s creative lead Koyama Kundō, with Kumamon following close behind, carries the Olympic flame through Uto in Kumamoto Prefecture on May 5, 2021, during a leg of the Tokyo 2020 torch relay. (© Jiji)

Kumamon and fellow bear Paddington stand alongside BMW’s specially designed “Kumamon Mini” at an event in Oxford, England, in July 2013. (© Jiji)

Kumamon preps for an appearance on a local television program in February 2021. (© Jiji)

Dancers join Kumamon at a birthday event for the mascot held in March 2019 at the Kumamoto Civic Auditorium. (Courtesy Kumamoto Prefecture)

Kumamon visits children at a nursery school in Nishihara in May 2016 following a series of earthquakes in Kumamoto that heavily affected the area. (Courtesy Kumamoto Prefecture)