Here’s a thread of new mascots that debuted in 2023.

Hirokuma, a bear who turned yellow after eating too many lemons, is the new mascot for Hiroshima Prefecture. He actually smells of lemons! The Odakyu railway line introduced a new blue bunny mascot called Mokoron in 2023.

Here’s a simplified version of the Shinjokun/Chiitan story. Shinjokun is the mascot of Susaki City, Japan, and is based on an extinct river otter that was last sighted in the area (and has a bowl of local noodles on his head). (1) A year ago, Chiitan, a real-life otter (center) was getting a big SNS following, and was thus invited to be an honorary tourism ambassador for Susaki. A costumed version of Chiitan (right) was then created by the same designers of Shinjokun. (2)