Leaving Ginza before noon on a Sunday, I came across this delightful couple. The gent was kindly guiding his “character” date across a small street. I wonder what they get up to off-hours?
Ginza character
Tokyo Moe
A blog about Nakano, Tokyo and male vanity
Tokyo Moe 
That guy is called Kanetan. He’s representing the city of Yonezawa in Yamagata Prefecture, as well as NHK, which has been featuring the character on some shows to help drum up interest in one of its historical period dramas. Maybe you saw him when he was out filming the next episode of “Go Go Kanetan”:
http://www.nhk.or.jp/yamagata/kanetan/gogo_kanetan.htm
Thank you, Durf, for the ID and the link. I am amazed by how much my readers know. Kanetan and his human walker seemed to make such a lovely couple. Do I understand correctly that NHK has both a historical period drama set in Yonezawa, and a separate TV program starring this adorable mascot?
Yes, the NHK drama is called Tenchijin. There’s an English-language info page on it here:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Tenchijin
The “Go Go Kanetan” show I linked above is something else, but NHK is borrowing this Yonezawa mascot for use in cross-publicity purposes, apparently.
Waaahahahahah all I got was that the thing is dressed as Naoe Kanetsugu, thanks Durf for the link! XDD
Wow, Lin. I would never have known that reference either. Thanks for adding some more information to this magical apparition.
wonderful. 🙂
Haha! You’re so funny!