Gifu's not exactly the richest prefecture in Japan. Those expecting to see the flashing neon lights or the ever-reliable, clean subway systems of Tokyo will probably be disappointed by the amount of old concrete buildings showing their age in Gifu city and the less-than-hourly buses leaving Gifu station. In my area, which is in the outskirts of Gifu city, The local bus comes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I've heard that the local bus' main purpose is to help transport elderly ladies for their grocery shopping.
Granted, it's probably unreasonable to expect every prefecture to be just as hi-tech as Tokyo, but Gifu's true colours seemed to shine at the recent
yuru-kyara summit. It was a special festival meant to celebrate
yuru-kyara, literally translated as "weak/lame mascot" all around Japan. There seems to be an unspoken rule in Japan that everything requires its own mascot.
Yes, I mean everything.
Chidejika: The Digital Broadcasting TV Deer.
So,
yuru-kyara are the answer for those organisations to poor to get a professional to design one for them. Why waste money on a professional when you can just make a mascot on your own?
Some of these mascots become famous enough for their lameness that they actually increase the amount of tourists coming to their attractions purely to get a photo with them.
Then there are others like Gifu's own
Yanana. She's the mascot of Yanagase, a shopping distract in Japan that's seen better days.
According to Google, she's supposed to be modelled off a mermaid statue that's seen around the Yanagase arcade entrance. I'm guessing the resemblence is more uncanny once she removes the box off her head.
