By YOSHIAKI KONISHI/ Staff Writer
December 25, 2024 at 07:00 JST
Hikonyan poses with fans at the Hikone city hall in Shiga Prefecture on Sept. 6. (Yoshiaki Konishi)
HIKONE, Shiga Prefecture—The city government here plans to register a trademark for Hikonyan, its samurai cat mascot, in China for sales of related items in the country starting next spring.
It will be Hikonyan’s first foray into a foreign market.
According to officials of the city’s entertainment section, a Japanese company with an operational base in China approached Hikone with an offer to sell Hikonyan goods at a department store in Shanghai, along with local products from across Japan.
The officials will file a trademark application in five categories: toys and stuffed toys; advertisement and online shops; travel goods; clothing; and confectionery.
The official Chinese name for the mascot will remain undisclosed to prevent the use of the name before the trademark is registered.
The city government has been making diligent efforts to promote Hikonyan, creating new illustrations and charging no license fee for use in Japan.
“We want to give it a more active role in other countries depending on the response,” an official said.
Hikonyan is modeled after a legendary cat that beckoned the lord of the feudal Hikone Domain (present-day Shiga Prefecture) and saved him from an imminent thunderstorm.
The Kumamoto prefectural government has obtained the trademark for its bear-like mascot Kumamon in China, South Korea and 15 other countries and regions. The mascot has official names in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.
Its Chinese name is pronounced “xiong-ben-xiong,” meaning “Kumamoto bear.”
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