Kumamon’s first post-pandemic visit to the supermarket in Macau’s New Yaohan department store in October last year caused me to look back at how and when I suddenly became connected to him, and that led me to go to interact with the mascot during his first-ever visit to Macau in March 2016 to promote food products from Kumamoto prefecture.
I can’t remember exactly how and when I became aware of the existence of Kumamon, who was “born” in 2010, but I am clear that since 2016, or perhaps a bit earlier, I have been with him in various forms, such as regularly checking his latest photos and videos with many of them showing his “naughty” behaviour, as well as having bought numerous bottles of Kumamoto’s sake at New Yaohan.
How he was born
So, who is Kumamon? The red-cheeked black bear is a Japanese regional mascot from Kumamoto, a prefecture in central Kyushu, the southernmost of the country’s four main islands. The mascot was created in 2010 during the Kumamoto prefectural government’s “Kumamoto Surprise” campaign to promote local tourism and agricultural products in the run-up to the opening of the northern section of the Kyushu Shinkansen (Japan’s high-speed railway) on March 12, 2011, because of which March 12 is Kumamon’s “birthday”.
With the 2011 opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen’s northern section, Kumamoto finally became connected to the country’s largest and most populous main island of Honshu through its high-speed train network.
As he was “born” in 2010, Kumamoto marked his 10th birthday on March 12, 2020 despite the fact that the opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen’s northern section took place in March 2011.
Kumamon is the outcome of Kumamoto Surprise, a campaign driven by the need to promote, both domestically and abroad, the largely rural prefecture’s richness in various aspects such as its agricultural produce and natural tourism resources, an opportunity brought about by the operational start of the Kyushu Shinkansen’s northern section.
Observing Kumamon when he visits Macau
After talking about Kumamon’s background, I now return to his relationship with Macau and with me as well. First, why he is connected to Macau? It is simply because he has visited our city once every year since 2016 except during the three-year pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Kumamon came to New Yaohan’s supermarket in February, March or April annually. After the pandemic, I began to check early last year whether he would come again, but by April, there was still no news about his upcoming visit. It was not until October 2023 that Kumamon finally made his first post-pandemic visit to Macau.
Second, how have I been connected with the mischievous bear? I went to see him whenever he promoted Kumamoto’s specialties at the supermarket, aiming to observe whether he would be naughty, particularly towards kids.
My closest connection with Kumamon so far has been my visit to his “office”, namely Kumamon Square in the centre of Kumamoto city, in November 2018 when I flew to northern Kyushu for a six-day visit that covered the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Oita.
I bought numerous Kumamon souvenirs and stationery at the square, as well as at several shops throughout the six-day trip, as people can easily see products with his beaming visage, ranging from toys, household goods, to T-shirts, among others, sold at various kinds of shops not only in Kumamoto but also across Kyushu.
Observer vs fan
According to Kumamon’s official website, his personality is “mischievous and full of curiosity”, and it is his “mischief” that impresses me. Whenever I visited him at New Yaohan’s supermarket, I placed special emphasis on “observing” how he would behave impishly, an attitude that is a bit different to Kumamon’s fans, many of whom may consider him cute, which I never use to describe him at all.
The official website also emphasises that Kumamon’s gender “is not a [adult] male but a boy”, and that’s why I use “him” to refer to the mascot in this article.
Taking his latest visit to New Yaohan as an example, he suddenly sat down on a robotic massage chair on sale. A girl who was with her mother appeared to be crying when they were posing for photos with Kumamon, and I guessed that he “terrified” the girl.
You may wonder why the “boy” has an office? It is because he is the prefecture’s “sales manager” and “happiness manager”, whose roles are to promote local produce and specialties and to share the happiness he finds around him.
In Japanese, his name means “person from Kumamoto” in the local dialect. His official Chinese name (熊本熊), pronounced as Hung Boon Hung in Cantonese, is a combination of the prefecture’s Chinese name Hung Boon (熊本) and the word for bear – Hung (熊).
In addition to being popular throughout Japan, his fame has extended to various places worldwide such as many in Asia and even in the West. *
As I have mentioned, I regard myself as Kumamon’s “observer” instead of a fan because of my attitude to him that causes me to always look for his possible “mischief or silliness” when watching his videos. For official clips showing Kumamon cuddling or walking a dog on a leash, fans naturally consider that the dog is enjoying it, but I would say that the dog is actually “frightened” by him and struggling to get away from him.
As a “neutral follower” of Kumamon, I do, however, share the view with his fans that “Kumamon is Kumamon and there is no one inside playing him”.
My next destination
My next destination in Kumamoto will be Kumamon Village, the mascot’s other base of operations which opened in September 2019. Kumamon Square, which opened in 2013, was revamped last year for several months and reopened in July. It’s reason enough for me to visit the square again.
As Air Macau’s flights to Fukuoka, which were suspended due to the pandemic, will only resume in July, perhaps I will choose to take a flight from Hong Kong which has direct flights to Kumamoto, as I will soon start planning another trip to northern Kyushu with special emphasis on Kumamoto this time.
Finally, I express my gratitude to my good friend as it was his careful planning that enabled our four-member 2018 trip to northern Kyushu to get off the ground.
* Kumamon has so far paid “business trips” to over 20 countries and regions such as China’s four regions (mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, the US, and as far afield as Brazil. Since he debuted, Kumamon has maintained his position as Japan’s most well-known “yuru kyara”, a Japanese term referring to the country’s hundreds of regional mascots.
Kumamon dances on the stage at Kumamon Square in Kumamoto, Japan in November 2018.
The red-cheeked black bear sits down on a massage chair at Macau’s New Yaohan department store on October 28, 2023
Kumamoto’s “sales manager” promotes beef from the southern Japanese prefecture at New Yaohan’s supermarket on October 29 last year. – Photos Tony Wong
