Japan takes its mascot game very seriously. You’ll see mascots, typically referred to as yuru kyara, absolutely everywhere. These go far beyond typical mascot roles that you’ll see overseas, like common snack ambassadors; in Japan, the military, insurance companies and entire prefectures have mascots of their own. It’s hard to resist the charms of a derpy mascot wobbling over to give you a hug and excitedly present the best tourist spots from its hometown. 

Over 100 mascots gathered at the end of the championship for a group photo | Photo by Aya Sato

At the centerpiece of the yuru kyara community is undoubtedly the Yuru-Verse mascot championship, Japan’s biggest mascot festival. Hundreds of mascots gather every year to compete for the chance of being the next big thing. 

Chiba-kun and Kumamon (left), Arukuma and Chiitan award Custard-kun (right) | Photos by Aya Sato

The championship, originally known as the Yuru Kyara Grand Prix, began in 2010 with inaugural winner Hikonyan, a white cat who resides in Hikone Castle and sports a dashing samurai helmet. The event has has since birthed absolute legends with cult followings: Sanomaru the dog with a ramen bowl on is head, Unari-kun the eel and airplane hybrid creature and, of course, the hailing king Kumamon from Kumamoto Prefecture who celebrated reaching cumulative merchandising sales of over 1.7 trillion yen earlier this year.

The Water Boiling Trio Cuties (left), Tama-chan (middle) and Chikuwa Sarata (right) | Photos by Aya Sato

This year’s Yuru-Verse had a record-breaking 435 mascots in the race for the crown. Fans voted online, casting over 2 million total votes. The final showdown and ceremony took place at Saitama Shintoshin over the weekend, with 135 contestants campaigning for the last wave of votes. Here is who made it into the top ten.

List of Contents:

Japan’s Next Top Mascot

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

10th Place – Watapi and Watarin

These bear brothers Watapi and Watarin come from Nagano Prefecture’s Watahan Group, a corporation that runs supercenters, housing construction projects and a variety of other ventures. On their solo missions, Watarin represents the Watahan Forestry House and Watapi comes from the overall parent company. 

During last year’s Yuru-Verse, Watapi competed alone and placed 27th in the competition. This time, Watapi’s brother came to the rescue for a joint campaign. The strategy clearly worked, bringing the bears up to the top ten with 50,044 votes.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

9th Place – Urudo-kun

Urudo-kun is the loyal mascot of the Nagoya Wolfdogs, one of the leading Japanese volleyball clubs affiliated with the pro SV.League. Since the club was first founded in 1961 as the Toyota Gosei Men’s Volleyball Club, the Wolfdogs have won two Top League championships and two Emperor’s Cup championships.

Urudo-kun is aptly a wolfdog, a point of pride that he makes sure to highlight on his X page to ensure that nobody ever confuses him for a bear. He is a laid-back character who enjoys napping and taking casual strolls. But he will pump up the energy when it comes to supporting his team. Urudo-kun brought home 50,769 votes.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

8th Place – Shirakaban

Representing the Nagano Prefectural Credit Union, also known as Kenshin Bank, with 52,813 votes is Shirakaban — whose name is a combination of hippopotamus and white birch, which is the prefectural tree of Nagano. 

Fully embracing the birch tree life, Shirakaban’s tail is a cute birch leaf, and she nurtures the “seeds of possibility,” which she carefully carries inside her backpack, together with the bank staff. Shirakaban’s favorite food is xylitol gum, which is notably made from birch bark extract.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

7th Place – King Pudding

King Pudding, or Ousama Purin, is a super jiggly regnant of the Land of Sweets, with caramel sauce bangs, a whipped cream-bejeweled crown and a seemingly nonchalant expression. The king comes from the hyper popular mobile rhythm game Idolish7, and with it, the power of otaku and oshi culture that pushed the mascot to 7th place with 54,302 votes.

In the game, King Pudding is the favorite snack of character Tamaki Yotsuba, who may look menacing on the outside, but is actually very sweet like his favorite wobbly dessert. 

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

6th Place – Ruutan

Ruutan is the mascot of home improvement chain Sekichu from Gunma Prefecture. Ruutan says that she’s a kangaroo, inspired by the company’s original logo that contained a kangaroo emblem, but I’m not quite convinced.

Her character profile says that Ruutan is energetic and pulls various things out of her pockets to help customers in need, a trait that likely helped her net 59,987 votes. She also loves fashion, and “her face jiggles with every step.” Ruutan is a notable yapper, and if you also have something you’d like to share with her, Ruutan has her own fanmail address.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

5th Place – Ai-chan and Guran-kun

In fifth place are the adorable Ai-chan and Guran-kun from Hiroshima. The pink elephant and yellow lion are ambassadors for Aigran Group, a prominent corporation that has grown into a major nationwide provider of childcare, educational and welfare services.

Ai-chan, as an elephant whose species is known for high empathy, is deeply affectionate towards her friends. She is so full of love that she was named after it. Guran-kun, like lions leading their pride, has a bold goal of becoming “number one” in the childcare industry. His other dream is to become an Anytime Fitness trainer.

When we last looked at the Yuru-Verse standings in August, Ai-chan and Guran-kun were not even close to the coveted top ten. But after 74,767 votes, the team has climbed up to fifth place.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

4th Place – Hotto Ken

Repping the Hot Staff staffing company is Hotto Ken from Aichi Prefecture. The dog mascot received 77,287 votes.

Ken may be a cute dog, but he is not a simple mascot. He is an avid passionate employee and family man. Hotto Ken met the love of his life, Lovelin, in the Hot Staff office and married her. (She is noted to be on maternity leave.) Together they have three children, Hotto Ken Jr. and twins Hope-kun and Milk-chan. Hotto Ken’s best friend and colleague is Shibagon. Aisu is Ken’s icey feline co-worker; they’re rivals but they also have mutual respect for one another.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

3rd Place – Tsunaga Ryuu Nuu

Tsunaga Ryuu Nuu is the green dragon representing Saitama city of Saitama Prefecture. His birthday, May 1, is also Saitama Citizens’ Day. Nuu is a descendant of the legendary dragon deity Ryujin, who was believed in ancient times to inhabit Minuma, a massive 1,260-hectare marshland in Saitama.

You can see the dragon decorating walls and vending machines inside Saitama Shintoshin Station. With the 2026 Yuru-Verse championship also being hosted in Saitama Shintoshin, fans were cheering for the Saitama local to win big this year and with an impressive 109,587 votes, Tsunaga Ryuu Nuu proudly represented his community with a bronze medal.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

2nd Place – Izunyan

Izunyan is the colorful bean-shaped cat mascot of Izumiya Shopping Center retail chain, which is based in Osaka. A contest was held at Izumiya stores to decide the name of the mascot, and “Izunyan” was selected out of 1,025 submitted entries.

Izunyan loves mandarin oranges and has a heart-shaped nose that matches the bright red heart on its belly. Izunyan also loves to dress up and will often wear a different outfit to match the occasion. At the Yuru-Verse event, Izunyan sported a festival pair of floral overalls and then changed into a sparkly cape for the award ceremony.

Sporting such a kingly cape, it looks like Izunyan was already predicting to take home the big crown. The kitty was the favored winner in August, and the mascot was going neck and neck with Sakai Thunder. With 187,107 votes, Izunyan humbly finished with silver.

Original image courtesy of Yuru Navi © Yuruverse Production Committee | Edited by Aya Sato

1st Place – Sakai Thunder

And finally, the grand winner — Sakai Thunder, a cheerful panda from Sakai City, Fukui. 

Sakai Thunder is a forever 3-year-old panda who wears a signature pair of blue overalls. Don’t touch her back zipper, though — it’s rumored to be a portal to the “demon realm.” Sakai Thunder is a Vtuber, running a popular YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers where she plays various games like Animal Crossing and her favorite, Minecraft. Her most popular video is actually a song, a collaboration with another ultra-popular gamer Ooharamen, which has nearly 3 million views. 

Sakai Thunder’s debut into the Yuru-Verse was just last year, when, despite being a newcomer, she overcame all odds and miraculously rose all the way up to second place. Now in the running for her second year, Sakai Thunder was out for revenge. With 208,326 votes, she has triumphed and has been enthroned as the 2026 Yuru-Verse champion.

Coming up to the stage to receive the grand trophy from Executive Committee Chairman Shuichiro Nishi and from 2025 grand winner mascot Ooki Konnosuke, the mascot’s representative gave an emotional speech.

“The Sakai Thunder-chan team mainly consists of three women, supporting Thunder-chan with video editing, stream preparations, updating on social media and creating merchandise; we manage everything ourselves … Thanks to all of you who warmly cheer us on … We’ve really been supported,” said the representative.

To see how the other mascots performed, see the official Yuru-Verse website for a full list of all 435 yuru kyara.

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Updated On October 6, 2026