Wednesday, July 31, 2024

(3192) Unari-kun

Nihon_Arekore_03220_Unari_kun_as_Benkei_100_cl

The tourism mascot of Narita city in Chiba (千葉) Prefecture. His name (Unari-kun/うなりくん) is a combination of "unagi" (うなぎ/鰻) the freshwater eel that is the city's specialty and of Narita's name (成田) and his shape is a combination again of an unagi and an airplane since in Narita is one of the two airports that serve Tokyo. Here, Unari-kun is dressed in the costume of Benkei (弁慶), the lead character in the Kabuki play Kanjincho (勧進帳) because Narita has a special relationship with Kabuki and particularly with the guild called "Naritaya" (成田屋). 

(For a bigger version of these pictures both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr).

0 comments: