Funassyi

Funassyi at Aeon Mall Funabashi in February 2013

Funassyi (ふなっしー Funasshī) is a Japanese mascot character, unofficially representing the city of Funabashi, Chiba. It was created by a citizen of Funabashi to promote his/her own website. It later appeared at events, festivals, TV programs and commercials, gaining popularity all over Japan.[1]

Profile

Funassyi is neither a boy nor a girl, but a pear (the Japanese for "nothing" (無し) and "pear" (梨) are both pronounced nashi). Its parents are ordinary pear trees.[2] Funassyi is the fourth of their 274 children.[3] Its birthday is July 4, and it is 1,876 years old as of 2014. Its full name is Funadius IV (フナディウス4世 Funadiusu Yonsei),[3] and its favorite food is peaches.[3] The character is fond of heavy metal, revealing that it bought Deep Purple's Machine Head as its first album, and is also fond of Aerosmith.

Funassyi's "brother" Funagoro (ふなごろー Funagorō), who is part caterpillar, was introduced on October 15, 2014.[4]

Behavior

Generally, Japanese local mascot characters, known as Yuru-chara (ゆるキャラ laid-back character) or gotōchi-chara (ご当地キャラ local character), move slowly and do not speak. Funassyi, however, speaks and sometimes shrieks, jumps, and makes violent movements like headbanging. When it speaks, it usually ends its sentences with "nassyi" (～なっしー ~nasshī) which sounds like the Japanese word for "pear" (梨 nashi).

The number 274 appears in a lot of Funassyi's material (e.g. as the number of siblings, on license plates, as a house number, as a team jersey number). Under the rules of Japanese number puns, one possible reading of this number is "fu-na-shi".

History

The character was first created by a Funabashi citizen in November 2011,[5] and a Twitter account was opened for it on November 21.[6] On April 7, 2012, it started uploading videos on YouTube.[7] In July 2012, Funassyi visited the Funabashi City Office to have it authorized and supported officially, but this was rejected.[8] On October 30, 2013, Funassyi was awarded a certificate for its contributions in promoting Funabashi all over Japan. However, the Funabashi Municipal Government, with the mutual consent of Funassyi, did not formally approve Funassyi as an official mascot of the city, since doing so may restrict Funassyi's activities.[8]

On November 27, 2013, Funassyi released a CD single, "Funa Funa Funassyi♪" (「ふな ふな ふなっしー♪」) collaborating with Toshihiko "Takamiy" Takamizawa of The Alfee, on the Far Eastern Tribe Records label. Funassyi's popularity and independence from the city it represents in an unofficial manner means an agent handles all media appearances; it is estimated that in 2013, Funassyi made ¥200,000,000 in revenue.[9]

In June 2014, Funassyi was interviewed by CNN.[10] In August 2014, Funassyi was taught how to pitch by Billy the Marlin, the official mascot of the American Miami Marlins baseball team.[11]

On March 5, 2015, Funassyi held a press conference for the overseas media at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. [12] [13] On March 6 of the same year Funassyi opened its flagship store, Funassyiland, in the Lalaport Tokyo Bay shopping center in its hometown, Funabashi. [14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "千葉県のご当地キャラクター ～チーバくんとお友達を紹介します！～ ＞：ちばの観光 まるごと紹介". Kanko.chuo.chiba.jp. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  2. ↑ "ふなっしー劇場 - terawarosu Jimdoページ". Terawarosu.jimdo.com. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "ふなっしー「産経新聞破るくらい梨汁ブシャー！とひたしたいなっしー」 過激発言で今年も幕開け？＋（2/2ページ） - MSN産経ニュース". Sankei.jp.msn.com. 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  4. ↑ "Funnassyi_has_a_brother". japantrends.com. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  5. ↑ "不気味さ受け想定外の人気 船橋市の"非公認"キャラ 梨の妖精「ふなっしー」 | ちばとぴ ちばの耳より情報満載 千葉日報ウェブ". Chibanippo.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  6. ↑ "ふなっしーの軌跡". Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  7. ↑ "千葉県 船橋市 ふなっしー 桜の木の下で". YouTube. 2012-04-07. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "船橋市市長 ふなっしーの貢献に感謝状贈るも「公認はしない」｜NEWSポストセブン". News-postseven.com. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  9. ↑ Brasor, Philip (2014-04-15). "Can a solo career help a mascot stand out?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  10. ↑ Ripley, Will (2014-06-10). "Mascot mania means big bucks in Japan". CNN. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  11. ↑ McCormick, Rich (2014-08-14). "Giant American fish teaches Japanese pear how to play baseball". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  12. ↑ Jackman, Sophie (2015-03-05). "Persevering pear mascot ‘Funassyi’ hopes to be positive symbol of Japan". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  13. ↑ Landers, Peter (2015-03-05). "‘Pear Fairy’ Funassyi Shakes Up Japanese Character World". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  14. ↑ Yoneyama, Shiro (2015-03-06). "Popular mascot Funassyi opens own shop in Chiba hometown". Mainichi Daily News. Retrieved 2015-03-11.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Funassyi.