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!
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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.
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!
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.
Hi Erika,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your fabulous blog! It is really an interesting topic, well-written and informative. And besides that, you have a really cute photo! Thank you for taking it and sharing it with us. It seems you must be a good photographer. Do you enjoy taking pictures?
I think I have been to Urawa once before, but it was probably before 2005. Though I am not particularly interested in eating eel, it might be worth a trip to see Unako-chan.
As to your question, hmmmm, I don't think there is a special character, but my hometown, St. Catharines (in the province of Ontario, Canada) has the nickname "the garden city." That is because there are a lot of flowers, gardens, parks, and hiking trails around in the town, I guess.
My city is introduced here:
http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/experiencein/AboutOurCity.asp
It is not very big - the population is around 120,000. But the location is good - very near Niagara Falls, the U.S. border and the state of New York. It is also near Toronto, which is the largest city in Canada (and my favourite city of anywhere in the world).
St. Catharines is also within the Niagara Fruit Belt, meaning we have a good climate for growing any number of different kinds of fruit: strawberries, cherries, peaches, pears, apples, and grapes. There are many local wineries in the area too and there are some fine wines. Ice wine, which you may have heard of (as it is a popular omiyage for Japanese tourists) is produced there too.
So, that's my hometown!
Ms. MacGregor
I did not know her. I think she is charming!
ReplyDeleteI thought to know a local character is interesting :)
My hometown has no character :(
Saki
Ms. MacGregor,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see your comment on my picture. Actually I'm not good at taking pictures, so I took pictures again and again. In the end, I took more than 20 pictures! The picture I attached was the best.
When I finished reading your comment, I began to wonder if it is a trend peculiar to Japan that many prefectures and cities have created their own characters. I don't know any local characters of other countries. Do you know any?
St. Catharines must be pleasant to live in because of its location and its various fruits (I love fruit)!
I didn't know ice wine. Now that I'm one of grown-ups, I can buy wines; I'll try some ice wine:)
Thank you for your information!!!
Erika
Saki,
ReplyDeleteI think so, too. She is charming!
You'll probably be surprized at the size of Unako-chan if you visit Urawa. So plese visit Urawa someday:)
Erika
I have never seen Unako-chan before!
ReplyDeleteI think her face looks like melonpanna-chan :-)
Someday I want see Unako-chan in anpanman anime.
In my hometown Yokohama, there was a character named tanemaru three years ago. Well, I don't see him recently. He was created as main character of celebration for 150years anniversery of Yokohama port. His lower half of the body is ship. I don't know why he named tanemaru, but I like him.
If I find some picture, I will show you on blog.
Bye;-)
You know I live in Saitama, but I have never seen Unako-chan!!
ReplyDeleteAnd also I don`t know it was created by Takashi Yanase.
I would like to eat Unajyu in Urawa with u:)
Unako chan is cute! Her face is like rice ball:-)
ReplyDeleteI did not know Urawa is famous for eel.
My city don't have any local characters:-(
Chizuki