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Gunma-chan (ぐんまちゃん, formerly known as Yūma-chan/ゆうまちゃん) is the fictional ''
yuru-chara is a Japanese term for a category of mascot characters; usually created to promote a place or region, event, organisation or business. They are characterized by their '' kawaii'' (cute) and unsophisticated designs, often incorporating motifs th ...
'' mascot of
Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...
. There are two official versions of the character.


The original version

The original Gunma-chan debuted in 1983 as a mascot character for a sporting event held in
Gunma is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture to t ...
. The design was a running horse with a blue mane. When the rights were later transferred to the prefecture, they did not include the right to change the design, which is why there are two different official versions of the mascot. After that Gunma-chan was made the official mascot of Gunma. Although since replaced with the second generation version, images of the original can still be seen around Gunma, such as at the Gunmaken Bajikoen in
Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It was ...
or the Dodaira-gawa Dam in Shimonita.


The second version

The second version is currently used for regional promotion of Gunma Prefecture. Then called Yūma-chan, it made its first official appearance at the 3rd National Sports Tournament for Intellectual Disabled Athletes in 1994. Submissions for a new mascot design were accepted from the public, with prefectural employee Fumiko Nakajima's being chosen as the winner. The name Yūma-chan was created by combining the words yūai (referring to the disabled athletes) and Gunma. In this version, Yuma-chan is a pony that walks on two legs and is supposed to be the chibi version of the original. This time, when rights were passed to prefecture, the right to change the design was also included, which is why there are variations to the design in use today. For example, in addition to the classic "boy" version with a green hat, there is a "girl" version with a ribbon. Gunma then began revamping its PR efforts; Yuma-chan was rebranded into the present day Gunma-chan after the opening of the Gunma Sogo Joho Center, (a general information center) that was opened in Ginza, Tokyo, in July 2008. It is commonly known as Gunma-chan's House. The prefecture had a budget of over 125 million yen in 2020 to promote Gunma-chan and its brand. That budget was more than doubled to over 329 million in 2021.


Character profile

Birthday: 22 February Age: 7-years-old (no matter how many years pass) Special Skills: Mysterious healing power Sex: None


Costume rental

Starting in 2000, a Gunma-chan costume was available to rent for private events, helping to improve its name recognition with the public. As of June 2020, the prefecture owns 18 Gunma-chan costumes available and they are used in situations when Gunma-chan needs to make appearances in different places at the same time. In 2019 alone there were 787 requests to borrow the costumes; the most requests ever received stands at 906. However, the public noticed the inconsistencies with how each Gunma-chan performed (as it depended on who was wearing the costume) which caused citizens to complain when these behaviours did not fit the image of the original Gunma-chan. In 2013, this became a topic of debate in the Prefectural Assembly. After Gunma-chan won the Yuru-Chara Grand Prix in 2014, Gunma established guidelines for those renting the costumes, including a limited number of gestures and moves that were allowed to be performed in public. Afterwards it was found that there were many cases in which those guidelines were ignored. On 12 May 2020, Gunma's Media Promotion Division decided that in order to protect Gunma-chan's image there would no longer be any costume rentals allowed. Instead, starting in October of that year, Gunma-chan itself would head the Gunma-chan Caravan Corps, a group that would dispatch Gunma-chan for free when needed. However, due to this policy change, Gunma-chan now only appears at official PR events designated by the prefecture.


PR activities


Events

Gunma-chan has made appearances at various events and competitions over the years. Some include: In 1996, it appeared at a national sports festival held in Gunma. In 2004, it appeared at sporting event held for disabled athletes. In 2005, it placed first in a national character popularity contest sponsored by the Mainichi Newspaper company, in which it won more than half of the votes. In 2015, it was designated as a mascot for a winter sports event held in Gunma. Official Gunma-chan art showed Gunma-chan performing various winter sports.


Yuru-Chara Grand Prix

Gunma-chan steadily gained nationwide popularity through participating in the Yuru-Chara Grand Prix. In 2011, it placed 18th; in 2012 and 2013, it placed 3rd; and in 2014, it won 1st place with 1,002,505 votes.


Merchandise and goods

Gunma-chan themed goods are sold in souvenir shops, convenience stores, and stations around the prefecture. An online store was also established after the anime's release. As 28 October is Gunma Citizens Day, the prefecture releases a notebook that features Gunma-chan on the cover every year. From 12 December 2012, Gunma-chan was appointed as the head manager of the prefectural PR department and also acts as an ambassador for
sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the '' nabemono'' (Japanese hot pot) style. It consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef) which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in ...
and ginhikari fish, two dishes that the prefecture has been trying to promote in recent years. Gunma will be releasing a Gunma-chan themed
license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...
available starting October 2023.


Local government

Each local government in Gunma has its own official Gunma-chan art that it uses. On the official Gunma Prefecture website, there is a "Gunma-chan mode" that once toggled changes all the pictures and banners to Gunma-chan versions.


TV appearances

Gunma-chan was featured on
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
in a program called ''Sanma no Nan Demo Derby''. A Gunma-chan plushie appeared on the
Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
program called ''5 Ji Ni Muchu''. Since 1017, Gunma-chan has also been making regular appearances on ''Gunma Ichiban'', which is broadcast on ''
Gunma TV , also known as GTV, is a television network headquartered in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. It is a member of the Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS). The government of Gunma Prefecture is the biggest shareholder of GTV, an ...
''.


In anime

Gunma-chan was featured as the main character in an anime called ''Gunma-chan'' (アニメぐんまちゃん in Japanese), which aired from 3 October 2021 to 26 December 2021 on
Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
and seven other network. There are 39 episodes in the first season, with each being about seven minutes long. It is narrated by
Takako Honda is a Japanese voice actress and narrator affiliated with Office Osawa. She is the regular dubbing voice actress for Halle Berry, Hilary Swank, Milla Jovovich (especially in ''Resident Evil'' film series) and Charlize Theron. In 2006, Honda was ...
. The television series is produced by the studio Ascension and directed by Mitsuru Hongo. The opening theme song is "Switch!" by
Karin Takahashi is a Japanese singer and actress. She debuted as a member of the girl group Prizmmy, where she also made television appearances in the live-action segments of the anime series ''Pretty Rhythm''. Following the group's disbandment in 2017, she ...
,
Aya Uchida is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She played Kotori Minami in ''Love Live! School Idol Project'' and Kaban in ''Kemono Friends''. She released the single "Sign/Candy Flavor", the song "Sign" was used as the ending theme for ''The Quintess ...
and
Yui Ogura is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Gunma Prefecture. Career In 2009, Ogura performed the motion capture for Hatsune Miku in the game ''Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA (video game), Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA''. Ogura is a member of the J ...
, while the ending theme is "Happy" by Maria Imamura. A promotional poster was distributed for free prior to its release. Originally a premiere was set to be held on 8 August 2021, but was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. An episode from the series streamed early on YouTube from 17 September to 2 October 2021. A second season premiered on 8 April 2023, with returning casts. The anime sparked confusion for locals when it first aired; despite official sources stating for years that Gunma-chan had no sex, in the anime Gunma-chan's sister calls it her big brother throughout the series, implying that Gunma-chan is a boy.


Collaborations

In 2012, Gunma-chan appeared in a mobile game called Gunma no Yabo. From 2013 to 2015, Hotel Metropolitan Takasaki had a Gunma-chan themed room that guests could book. In 2014, Gunma-chan was featured on a series of cup noodles that were sold across the country. The following year, a brand of yakisoba noodles was also released. Local sweets shops sometimes sell Gunma-chan themed desserts. One example is Omama Aoyagi located in Midori City, Gunma. From April 2020 to April 2022, The Jomo Electric Railway company ran about 700 trains that were Gunma-chan themed.


References

{{Yuru-chara Mascots introduced in 1983 Mascots introduced in 1994 1983 establishments in Japan 1994 establishments in Japan Yuru-chara Horse mascots Anthropomorphic horses Gunma Prefecture Advertising characters