Here is Sato-chan and some friends at the chemist shop in Narita Airport, Tokyo.
Chemists in Japan are a lot more fun than the ones in Australia. Sato-chan, the little elephant guy, is the mascot for the Sato Pharmaceuticals company in Japan.
We saw some great Sato figures at a pharmacy in Kyoto one night. Wayne went in to ask if we could buy them but the pharmacist said they were only for “propaganda” – I think she meant advertising, but who knows.
You’ll see Sato-chan and his little sister Satoko-chan outside chemist shops all over Japan, but we might need to make a special visit to the Shimizu Pharmacy in Ginza, Tokyo on our next trip. It has a Sato museum!
I wanted to get a Sato figurine at the flea market in Kyoto but they were a bit pricey. I was regretting not getting one, but Wayne secretly managed to find me a vintage Sato finger puppet at Nakano Broadway in Tokyo for my Christmas stocking.
I love all the mascots all over Japan! So cute. I was snowboarding in Hirafu in January and the mascot there is a Mr and Mrs potato on ski’s! On all the posters, signs, even the fire department garage door had a massive mural of them! You could buy soft toys of them in the gift shops and they were very proud of the local potato that was only in season when we were there!
Wow, I’ll have to look out for Mr and Mrs Potato!
Japanese do cute very well!
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