Funashi - ふなし

Jump, Jump.

Ok so not technically a person, but Funashi certainly has dominated pop culture for the past year. Turn a corner, walk into convenience store or just flick on the TV and you're going to see this mad pear-blob-dude bouncing around.

The Yuru Kara (prefectural character) culture exploded in the past few years. Each prefecture being represented by a unique mascot, to promote tourism of the area. 

Funnashii (pear fairy) him/herself is the unofficial mascot of Funabashi, Chiba. What sets him aside from traditional YuruKara is not just his Eric Cantona kick, but the fact she/he speaks! 

Typically mascots wouldn't speak, partially due to the costume, but also to free up the mascot for multiple appearances around the country. However Funnashii is truly one of a kind.

Enjoy!

Sakanakun - さかなクン

Without a doubt the most iconic and outstanding dude in Japanese pop culture.

A marine biologist, ecologist, illustrator, author and lecturer to name a few - here are some fun facts:

7 years old - Sakanakun receives a picture of an octopus from a friend and instantly falls in love with the ocean.

Adopts the "PufferFish Hat" as part of his uniform in Junior High School.

In 1993 he became the TV Tokyo "TV Champion" after winning his 5th consecutive quiz on his specialist subject - fish!

As a child loved Mizuki Shigeru (GeGeGe no Kitaro) which inspired him to become an illustrator.

The PufferFish Hat

Whilst observing bullying amongst fish groups Sakanakun recognized a pattern between humans and fish. In school one of Sakanakuns friends had been bullied, but going fishing together seemed to relieve some of the stress his friend was suffering. Sakanakun observed this kind of bullying with a group of puffer fish too and so chose the PufferFish Hat as a way to free the fish spirit from bullying. (Kinda sweet right?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdJRY8Mv0kU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONo_mNrokeM

Super Da!

Welcome to Super Dareda!スーパーダレダへようこそ！

A weekly update on the who's who in Japanese culture.毎週日本の有名人/芸能人についてのブログをアップデートするよ。

Sure we all know Ken Watanabe, Ichiro Suzuki and Beat Takeshi, but how about the lesser known talents!もちろん皆は渡辺 謙や鈴木 一朗や北野 武を知っているけどあまり有名じゃない芸能人はどうでしょうか。

Let's goooooo!!
いきましょううう！