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Meet Kure-shi, Kure's Crazy Mascot
posted on by Eric Stimson
If you're an obscure Japanese town trying to raise its national profile, one thing you've got to have is a cute mascot. These characters (yuru-chara, or "loose characters") have gained popularity across Japan due to their simple, appealing designs, catchy dance routines, and/or abundant merchandise. Some of them can get downright ridiculous, though, like the mascot of Kure, a port city next to Hiroshima.
That's right, "Kure-shi" (a play on "Kure City," which is pronounced the same way; it means "Mr. Kure") is just a big blue block with the Chinese character for Kure on it. On his back are the katakana (Japanese characters) for Kure. To give him some personality, he also has googly eyes above the box in the character (which happens to be the "mouth" radical), lamé-covered arms and legs to dance with, and little waves on top to evoke Kure's nearby sea.
But Kure-shi's a hip mascot, too. His theme song, "Kure-shi GONNA Kure-shi," shows him dancing and hanging out with a troop of youngsters enjoying the city's sights, like its harbor, old town, and hilltop park. The lyrics also celebrate these sights while inviting the listeners to come visit, constantly playing off of the meaning of Kure in Japanese ("give," which is used when making a request).
This video goes more into Kure-shi's backstory. We see his audition at city hall, where Kure's mayor, Kazutoshi Komura, declares that the encounter was "fate." "When we first laid eyes on him, we already knew it could only be him," Osamu Kisaka, the deputy mayor, swears. Kure-shi had a hard time learning the dance at first, but he was born to be Kure's mascot and put everything he had into perfecting the routine. With the help of his good friends and well-wishes from city officials, he persevered.
And here's a video that's exclusively the dance routine, if you feel like learning it (or the song lyrics) yourself.
Meanwhile, over closer to Osaka, Matsubara's mascot, Matsubara-kun, is much less hyped about his job.
Source: Kure-shi official website; Images from Hiroshima FM Twitter
