Kumamon is still the standard by which other yurukyara are judged.
— start quote — Few have managed to emulate Kumamon, a tubby black bear with an endearing grin whose name is an ingenious combination of the Japanese word for bear, kuma, Kumamoto, his home prefecture, and the local pronunciation of mon, or “things”. Kumamon’s face appears on myriad local products and tourism campaigns, while companies across Japan pay the prefecture to use his likeness on everything from stationery to sweets. — end quote —
