Seems like Kumamon is out of the Olympic torch relay due to the fact that he’s (she’s?) not human.
I used to work at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, and often ate at the employee canteen (most of the kitchens are below ground with the food shuttled by dumbwaiters, so we ate the same hamburgers and fries as the guests did). Outside the canteen was a rack where the characters could hang their costumes - even the “face actors” - Snow White, etc. - would hang their costumes on the rack to prevent staining their costumes. They’d wander around in their white long underwear and were demonstrably human. Seeing Snow White dragging on a cigarette in her long underwear was always entertaining.
I’d suggest Kumamon should be considered in the same way.
