In Japan, everything has to be cute. The Japanese word for cute is “kawaii” and you hear this word quite a lot! This cute phenomenon is something I discovered quite early after I arrived and something I have really enjoyed from day one, being a fan of cute things myself. In the country where “kawaii” is a must, even banks and railway companies use cute mascots to interact with their customers, as if they want to reach the kind and docile part of people.
As a designer, this is a very interesting fact to know. Below is an example of these cute characters; this one is the mascot of our local train line in Tokyo, the Toyoko line by the Tokyu Corporation. The company name sounds so big, important, nearly pompous… and their mascot is “Norurun”, the little smiley train. Imagine if Irish Rail in Ireland or SNCF in France asked designers to redesign their brand identity and ended up with a “Norurun”… I think Hell would have frozen over before that happens!
Other photos of Norurun and the company’s campaigns using Norurun.
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