By ITSUKI SOEDA/ Staff Writer
March 23, 2022 at 15:57 JST
The official mascot of the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo (Provided by the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition)
What is blue and red, has five eyes and elbows that drip like liquid?
The answer is the new official mascot for the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo.
The event organizer, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, unveiled the bizarre creation on March 22. It was chosen out of 1,898 mascot designs submitted in a public competition.
The winning design was created by a Tokyo-based group of designers called “mountain mountain,” led by graphic designer Kohei Yamashita.
A screening committee's 11 members including graphic designers chose it from the final three candidates.
The official mascot has a blue body that carries the expo’s bright red logo on its head. Its blue body represents water and the ability to change shapes. The logo is comprised of red cells, embodying the “brilliance of life.”
The group of designers said the theme of the mascot is the “potential for diversity and change.”
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui plan to fly separately to the United Arab Emirates at the end of March to attend Expo 2020 Dubai to promote the Osaka event internationally.
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