Japanese city’s breasts-themed mascot is not as sexual as you might think
Hikari, a city in the rural prefecture of Yamaguchi in the west of Japan, has a mascot. No surprise there, since almost every town, city, prefecture, company, political party, or anything in Japan has an official mascot of some kind. Japanese adult toy brands also have them: Toy’s Heart has Toys-kun, while Tama Toys has Super Tamanyan.
But Cuto is different.
Cuto is all about breasts and childrearing. As her name suggests, she looks cute, right? But those circles on her cheeks are not blushes. You’ve guessed it — they’re nipples. Because Cuto’s head is meant to be a pair of breasts.
Hikari launched Cuto quite some time ago but has popped up on blogs and social media again recently as people discover that Cuto has her own dance.
Oh, and that Hikari launched a “breasts city declaration” back in 1995 (and renewed a decade later, because breasts remain important).
Is this a city of fetishists? Should we move to Yamaguchi right away?! No, there is actually a nonsexual reason for this: Hikari is promoting breastfeeding.
The fourth and final part of the declaration states: “We shall all respect breasts and protect great mothers.”
The city has conducted these public awareness campaigns since the 1970s in response to the rising numbers of mothers using baby formula to feed their newborns.
