East Japan mascot ‘Gunmachan’ celebrates train station’s 140th anniv. with dance moves

TAKASAKI, Gunma — Gunmachan, the official mascot for east Japan’s Gunma Prefecture, appeared at JR Takasaki Station on July 28 for an event to celebrate 30 years since its creation and 140 years since the station opened.

Gunmachan, one of Japan’s many “yuru-chara” character mascots, appeared as a stationmaster during an event to name the place “Gunmachan Station,” livening up the atmosphere with dancing. JR employees also showed off dance moves they had practiced for days, to the delight of some 300 fans gathered there.

Gunmachan had met with fans at the station each weekend in July. On July 28, the mascot specially performed three dances, and showed “Gunma love” with raised arms in a pose to represent a crane, which the prefecture is said to be shaped like.

One 40-year-old woman at the event who came to the station from the Gunma city of Kiryu cheered on Gunmachan from the front row with her 4-year-old daughter and described the mascot as “really cute.”

Train conductors will give the special announcement, “We will soon arrive at Gunmachan Station” on lines including the Hokuriku and Joetsu shinkansen lines until July 31.

(Japanese original by Ryuko Tadokoro, Maebashi Bureau)