Emoticon advice

Hey everyone, Can I give you a tip for making emoticons?

When you want to write a happy face, it should like like this             :-)

A sad face is            :-(

A winking face looks like this     ;-)

And always make sure to leave one space between the word before the emoticon and the emoticon symbol, like this :-)

All set? Happy Tanabata! ✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Ms. MacGregor

Blog #5: A Local Character

Erika Okada

Rice-ball-shaped face, round eyes, and with a flat paper fan...
This time I'll introduce a local character of my hometown whose name is Unako-chan!

She was born in Urawa (in Saitama City) in 2005 in order to spread the fact that Urawa had been a good place to eat grilled eels since more than 200 years ago.  Actually I didn't know the fact until she appeared, though I had lived near Urawa for 14 years.  Today there are about 30 restaurants mainly serving Unaju (grilled eel on rice, served in a lacquered box) in Urawa.  Unako-chan was designed by Takashi Yanase who also created Anpanman!

You can see her at the west entrance of Urawa station.  The bronze statue of her figure is a kind of landmark like Hachiko in Shibuya.

These days, local characters such as Sento-kun (from Nara Prefecture) and Hikonyan (from Hikone City) are becoming well-known, and they succeed in attracting visitors.  I hope Unako-chan also becomes popular someday :-)

Are there any local characters in your hometown?  Please let me know.