As well as being suitably silly for your Sunday entertainment, this recent survey from goo Ranking into Japan’s cutest corporate mascot is also an excuse to introduce a new blog, Japanese mascots, which does just what it says on the tin.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of March 2008 1,036 people from the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% were male, 7.0% in their teens, 14.7% in their twenties, 30.1% in their thirties, 27.0% in their forties, 10.9% in their fifties, and 10.2% aged sixty or over. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

My favourite character is Liyon-chan, but he doesn’t make the list as he’s a Kansai-only character, I think, or perhaps he was wrongly-counted as the Lion Lion-chan? From the list, it would have to be Pinky then Koala no March kun.

Note that characters from companies like Sanrio, Disney, and San-X who are sold as characters in their own right were excluded from this survey.

Oh, and click the character photos to see a video of the animal in action.

Research results

Q: Who do you think is the cutest corporate mascot animal? (Sample size=1,036)

Rank Character   Product Score
1 Kyoro chan
Morinaga Chocoballs 100
2 Lismo kun
KDDI LISMO 85.8
3 Namacha Panda
Kirin Beverage Namacha 81.7
4 Pon De Lion
Mister Donuts 81.3
5 Hiko-nyan
Hikone Castle 400 Year Anniversary 80.6
6 Gachapin
Fuji Television Hirake! Ponkikki 73.5
7 Bazar Degoza-ru
NEC 73.5
8 Koala no March kun, Koala no Waltz chan
Lotte Koala no March 72.8
9 Aflac Duck
Aflac 69.8
10 Hiyoko chan
Nissin Chicken Ramen 67.5
11 Mook
Fuji Television Hirake! Ponkikki 53.7
12 Shimajirou
Benesse Kodomo Challenge 51.1
13 Kikkoro
Aichi World Exposition 48.9
14 Manma chan
Kansai Television Sanma no Manma 46.6
15 Suippi
JR East Suica 45.1
16 Morizo
Aichi World Exposition 38.1
17 Domo kun
NHK 37.7
18 Yonda?
Shinchosha, Shincho Bunko 37.3
19 Pinky
Frente Pinky 34.0
20 Fa-fa
Nissan Soap Fa-fa 32.8
21 Kero chan, Koro chan
Kowa Colgen Kowa 32.5
22 Hana Koala
Sompo24 Accident Insurance 30.2
23 Pi-po kun
Tokyo Metropolitan Police 27.2
24 Sato chan, Satoko chan
Sato Pharmacuticals 26.5
25 Torakki
Hanshin Tigers 25.7
26 Wan-wan
NHK Inai-Inai-Paa! 23.5
27 Spoo
NHK Together with Mother 21.6
28= Lion chan
Lion 21.3
28= Nyan-mage
Jidai-mura 21.3
30 Zu-min, Cha-min, Satabo
Nippon Television Zoom In!! Super 20.1

11 Comments

jiititititititiitititit · January 9, 2009 at 18:17

HIKONYAN IS THE BEST!

Ole Casthoej · April 21, 2009 at 09:55

I have with great interest studied these products and I have been inspired by the design and the basic ideas behind it. No wonder that you apparantly are doing well. Anyhow I wish you good luck

kiomkiom · May 12, 2009 at 21:35

Where’s Pikachu! Or Kirby!
This list doesnt suit my kind of cute but… i still like it!

    Simone · March 20, 2011 at 00:37

    These are corporate MASCOTS, where pikachu and kirby more qualifies as gaming characters xD Good picks though, just not for this list C;

Ken Y-N · May 12, 2009 at 22:25

kiomkiom, the list is only for corporate mascots, not stand-alone characters, so Pokemon and game characters don’t make it. Glad you liked it regardless!

Japanese Words · August 2, 2009 at 09:18

Something seems wrong when an insurance company comes in at #9. I’m surprised the Softbank dog didn’t rank.

Shichiro · July 11, 2012 at 05:21

Namacha Panda!!! <3

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