Coral is Kawaii

Betcha didn't know that 2008 is the International Year of the Reef. As anyone who dives or snorkels tropical waters knows, coral reefs are windows into another world -- and increasingly threatened by climate change, pollution, and overfishing. International Year of the Reef is sponsored by a variety of countries, including Australia, France, Mexico, the Philippines, and America, but only the Japanese have gone the extra mile and created not one but SEVEN super kawaii mascot characters to promote it!

Clockwise from left, you've got Oniide (a super-cute crown-of-thorns starfish, nicknamed the "demon-star" in Japanese for its toxic spines), Shota (the boy with coral for hair), Kacchi, Chu, and Zou (a trio of coral polyps), Taiyo-Kun (the sun), Unibo (a sea urchin), Kanirin (a crab-girl) and Jangurasu (sea grass). The mascots were named in a nationwide competition; a 76-year-old from Fukushima submitted "Shota," while a 7-year-old from Tokyo came up with "Taiyo-Kun," showing the huge popularity of "working characters" (as we call them in Hello, Please) across a wide demographic in Japan.

Comments

[Daryl Surat]

I'll have you know that I did a search on Google for "shota" to learn more about this coral-haired wonder boy, and this is certainly NOT what it returned, sir!

[hillsy]

In fact, there was no hair to be found! Ew.

[Matt]

Ha! There's no "con" in this "Shota," I assure you. I hope, anyway. But perhaps we'll have to wait until the next Comiket to know for sure...

[Roger]

Best entry is the eggs, worst entry is the crab. "Look at me, I'm Crazy Crab-Head!"

Why would the crown of thorns starfish get mascot treatment? Don't they destroy coral?

[Matt]

I was wondering that myself! Hopefully our resident starfish expert Chris will pipe in...

[ChrisM]

Hey Matt & Roger!
Oops! I read the post, but missed the comment.. Short answer is the COTS eat coral..they don't just destroy it. One could consider them part of the natural balance of things.. Its when the COTS are out of balance that they start to negatively impact on coral populations.

But if the kawaii are educational and meant to relate to the public, then one of the important "players" in the ecosystem..and one that many are likely to see are the crown of thorns starfish..

So, taking the example of the germs kawaii..the big players are your E. coli, your Staph. etc..Presumably they try to play up the most common ones in order to educate about them... My take would be that its the same deal.

sorry to take so long. :-)