Hikonyan Explained
is a mascot created by the city government of Hikone, Japan. He was created in 2007 to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of Hikone Castle. The character design is derived from a legend concerning maneki-neko and Ii Naotaka, the 3rd Lord of Hikone.[1] [2] [3] The daimyō was beckoned by a white cat to seek shelter from a storm in a temple, and thus saved from a lightning strike.[4] In Japanese, "nyan" is an onomatopoeia for a cat's meow. Hikonyan's samurai helmet is based on a Ii family helmet currently in the Hikone Castle museum. Hikonyan's popularity increased tourist visitation of Hikone by over 200,000 annually. The estimate of Hikonyan's effect on the tourist industry is 17.4 billion yen (approximately US$218 million) and the overall economic effects total 33.8 billion yen (US$425 million). Total merchandise sales reached about 1.7 billion yen (US$21 million) as of 2008.[5] In 2010, Hikonyan won first place in the open vote competition of other mascots, collectively known as .[6]
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Notes and References
- Web site: Fortune Beckons: Japan's Lucky Cat Figurines. https://web.archive.org/web/20181109035647/https://www.nippon.com/en/nipponblog/m00038/. nippon.com. 1 August 2014. 9 November 2018. 2 July 2023.
- Web site: https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20140722-cat/. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207230621/https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20140722-cat/. ja:東京都の"招き猫発祥の地"である豪徳寺・自性院・今戸神社、猫はどう違う?. ja. Mynavi News. 22 July 2014. 7 December 2022. 2 July 2022.
- Web site: https://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20160306_390990.html?DETAIL. https://web.archive.org/web/20211015215305/https://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20160306_390990.html?DETAIL. ja:招き猫発祥地争い 浅草・今戸神社と世田谷・豪徳寺が主張中. ja. Shogakukan. 6 March 2016. 15 October 2021. 2 July 2023.
- Web site: ひこにゃん プロフィール . Hikone City Sightseeing Promotion Division. 25 December 2012.
- Web site: The Most Popular Cat in Japan and Japanese Naive Painting. Detour Japan. 2013-12-12. 2013-08-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20130827074211/http://detourjapan.com/120612.html. dead.
- Web site: Results announced in Yuru-kyara character popularity poll . Oricon . 2010-10-26 . 2013-12-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130403001756/http://life.oricon.co.jp/81406/full/ . 2013-04-03 . dead .
