Cartoon Mascots have taken over Japan

by Clifford F. Thies

Remember the Pokemon craze? Those trading cards and miniature figures that were ubiquitous during the 1990s? Well, mascots have completely taken over the Japanese government. There's Rakkaseigi-kun (Justice Boy) a top-hatted flying peanut with a magnifying glass,who is the mascot of the Chiba Prosecutors Office, and Dempa-Kun (Radio Wave Boy) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as well as hundreds, if not thousands of others, each one cuter than the others, every one of the smiling, even Tappy, the Happy Tax Dog, Uran-chan, a purple pixie with her glowing wand, representing the Nuclear Power Marketing Association, and Kashikashika, the Transparency Deer, of the Kyoto Bar Association.

Well, according to Colin Jones of the Doshisha Law School in Kyoto, writing in Japan Times, these mascots are symbols of the nanny state, where everybody is treated like a child. So, the next time you see the black-uniformed SWAT police making a dynamic entry into your house or place of business, take a look at the shoulder patches. If your see a goofy-looking cartoon character smiling and saying "We're from the government and we're here to help you," you know that our country utterly doomed.

PS Tappy, if you haven't figured it out, is supposed to represent Tax + Happy. Like, right.