Did you know that Hokkaido has a huge number of local mascots? There are hundreds of them scattered all over the vast prefecture. Today we will introduce "Tobenosuke"! If you have a good sense of intuition, you will already know that he is the mascot of Tobetsu Town. With his round shape and big eyes, Tobenosuke exudes a cuteness that is reminiscent of a local mascot. If you look closely at his outfit, you can see that he is wearing something that resembles a traditional Japanese kimono.

In fact, the man who built the foundations of Tobetsu Town was Date Kuninao, a direct descendant of Date Masamune. In other words, Tobenosuke is modeled after a samurai of the Date clan. Indeed, if you look closely, you will see that he is wearing a crescent-shaped helmet, which is the symbol of the One-Eyed Dragon.

Looking further into his profile, we find that Tobenosuke is a sparrow who admires the owl, the local bird of Tobetsu Town, and has tattooed white patterns around his eyes to imitate the owl. I was surprised to find out that it was a sparrow, but I was touched by the brave effort to make it look like an owl. Incidentally, the sparrow is the crest of the Date clan, which is why it became the motif for Tobenosuke.

Tobenosuke is a boy, forever 5 years old. His hobby is playing sword fighting games, and his birthday is October 2nd (Tobetsu). We also got to take a rare back shot!

The name Tobenosuke was chosen from a competition of suggestions from both inside and outside the town. It is a shortened version of Tobetsu, "Tobe," and contains the wish to "fly" so that the dog can soar ever higher. It's a great name, isn't it?

For those who would love to meet Tobenosuke, why not check out his official Instagram account to get information about his activities. It also contains some cute photos, so if you check it out you might become even more enthralled with Tobenosuke.

<Interview cooperation> Tobetsu Town Hall Address: 58-9 Shirakaba-cho, Tobetsu-cho, Ishikari-gun, Hokkaido Phone: 0133-23-2330 (main) Official website: https://www.town.tobetsu.hokkaido.jp/ Tobenosuke Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobenosuke/