The Yuru-Chara Grand Prix is an annual contest where fans vote for their favorite mascots, which also keeps tabs on the popularity of government-sponsored characters.

TOKYO, June 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YURU COIN, the official token of Japan's beloved Yuru-Chara Grand Prix, has officially launched, marking the first time the country's largest regional ...

Japan’s yuru-chara (literally soft character) craze has been going strong for over a decade. The country’s thousands of cute, quirky mascots represent prefectures, towns, local attractions, and more.

Japan’s yuru-chara are larger-than-life mascots that range from the cute to the hilarious to the downright bizarre. They are commonly used across the country to promote tourism, social-cause ...

YOKKAICHI, Mie -- The government of this western Japan city mobilized its workers to vote en masse for municipal mascot "Konyudo-kun" in this year's "Yuru Chara Grand Prix" online contest to ...

Kaparu, a lime-green mascot with a wide mouth and a bald spot, won Sunday’s Yuru Chara Grand Prix 2018 at a mascot festival in Osaka that attracted a remarkable 507 representatives of towns and ...

TOKYO, June 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YURU COIN, the official token of Japan’s beloved Yuru-Chara Grand Prix, has officially launched, marking the first time the country’s largest regional ...

TOKYO, June 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YURU COIN, the official token of Japan’s beloved Yuru-Chara Grand Prix, has officially launched, marking the first time the country’s largest regional mascot ...