Introduced 8 years ago to promote tourism, Kumamon, the mascot of the Kumamoto prefecture, quickly became one of the most popular Japanese mascots.

The name and the design comes from the first Kanji characters of the prefecture’s name, kuma (bear) and mon, which in the local dialect means “person". Thus, Kumamoto is represented by a bear, although there are no bears in the area.

Kumamon statue, Kumamoto Station, Kumamoto

EXIF Info:

Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Kodokan academic hall