Yubari Melon Bear

Bears and Melons mix well

What is this? A melon? A bear? A bear-faced melon? It’s the Yubari Melon Bear! I happened to chanced upon this “local specialty” character goods, specifically from the town of Yubari, Hokkaido and immediately took a liking for it. It might look a little scary, but he is still lovable.

Legend says that a brown bear who once ate too many stolen melons from the farms (Yubari is a major source of melons) transformed into such a weird looking creature. The legend is of course a hoax and hence this mascot is but a marketing gimmick to promote Yubari and its melons.  But lets just give them credit for coming up with such a unique character no?

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Yubari melon bear on the prowl.

Pamphlet that came with the package. Notice the melon bear guy?

All available merchandise shown.

Ok, my encounter with the melon bear mascot might not be completely pure and innocent, owing to the fact that I chanced upon it due to her efforts in “promoting” it. Pictures below might give you a better idea of what is the draw factor of the Yubari melon bear.

Eh?!

Munch munch.

Priceless.

In spite of his strange appearance, Yubari Melon Bear is currently a very popular mascot.  The melon bear character goods were sold out very quickly despite being a mail-order item exclusive to Japan. Tough luck if you live outside of Japan and wanted one of them.

Source of YUI’s pictures: Hisashi Kondo’s blog Post