Ossan and Go-Torch characters dance through J-Pop Summit

All Japan

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Japanese mascot Ossan brought dancing and laughter to Japanese pop culture fans in San Francisco during the annual J-Pop Summit festival at Fort Mason Center held August 8th and 9th.

Joined by fellow “Go-Torch” characters (also known as “yuru-kyara”) SanaSenaBona from Sasebo and the brother and sister bears Akkuma and Koakkuma from Hokkaido, Ossan urged attendees to visit his home of Hyogo prefecture and led audiences in sing-alongs of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (“Pon Pon Pon”) and popular wota-gei dances.

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Joking that he flew in to San Francisco as a VIP (“Very Important Package”), Ossan turned the stage over to Koakkuma, who danced to music while Akkuma played Metallica guitar riffs and the Attack on Titan theme. Sana-Sena-Bona distributed paper bag masks to the audience and gave dance lessons to cosplayers and young people around the stage.

Ossan toured the event area cosplaying as Kame Sennin of Dragon Ball Z and promoting Nippon Travel Agency America’s travel packages to visit each mascot’s local area. The Go-Torch characters also contributed videos to Toshiba’s Transfer Jet campaign. (http://www.j-pop.com/data-rally-with-transfer-jet/)

Attendees contributed their own photos to Facebook and Instagram with tags #FoundOssan #FoundAkkuma #FoundSana to earn prizes and share their special encounters with the popular characters.

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Ossan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicchai.ossan.en
SanaSenaBona Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanasenabona
Akkumas Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KOAKKUMAandAKKUMA