What 10 Years of the Yuru-chara Grand Prix Left Behind

Local mascots in Japan are called "yuru-chara." The Yuru-chara Grand Prix was a popularity vote for these mascots, held from 2010 to 2020.

A Stage for 1,727 Characters

Participation peaked in 2015, with 1,727 characters. Kumamon of Kumamoto Prefecture, which won in 2011, went on to become Japan's best-known local character. The voting method changed every year. In 2011, votes were collected online. From 2012, voters had to register an ID to prevent fraud. From 2014, the top characters in the online vote advanced to an on-site final vote.

What the Votes Do Not Say

The winner's vote count rose to 6.95 million in 2015, then fell to the 100,000 range by 2019. In 2018, it came out that several employees of one city had created about 20,000 free email addresses to funnel votes to their city's character. Similar cases came to light in other cities, and critics said the practice interfered with public duties.

The organizers announced that the Grand Prix would end in March 2020. Commonly cited reasons were that there were too many characters, so each one stood out less, and that residents were increasingly critical of local governments spending taxpayer money. The number of participating characters had already dropped below 1,000 in 2018.

Afterward

In 2023, an event was held for promotion and voting in a metaverse space. In 2024, online voting returned on the website. Popularity votes still have the power to raise a mascot's profile. The lesson of the Grand Prix is that they need safeguards to protect the votes and rules to prevent mobilization contests.