Meet Chiitan, Japan’s ultimate representative for kawaii mischief! This ridiculously cute mascot is known for the whirlwind of chaos it brings with its silly, slapstick antics. It bashes things with baseball bats, wrestles with balloons, and even breaks trampolines in his adventures. Chiitan is so wild that it even got banned by the city that it’s supposed to be representing!
In a kawaii-obsessed country where almost every city gets its own cute little yuru-chara (mascot character), Chiitan stands out as a wildcard. What exactly is Chiitan? What’s the Chiitan controversy? What got Chiitan banned from its own city in Japan? Pack your bag and put on your cutest outfit because we’re going on a wild adventure to learn more about Chiitan!
- Japanese name: ちぃたん☆
- Gender: No Gender
- Birthday: December 14
- Favorite Things: Getting help and getting praise
- Favorite food: Crepes, Pocky, potatoes, and strawberries
- Favorite activity: Saving up 30 yen a day to buy snacks
- Special Skill: Exercising, being able to tell even scary people not to do things like smoke on the street.
- Fun fact: Chiitan has its own crypto coin!
WHAT IS JAPAN’S CRAZY MASCOT CHIITAN?
The self-declared unofficial representative of the city of Susaki, Chiitan is known as the havoc-wreaking, chaos-loving mascot of Japan. Chiitan is filled with nothing but mischief - it wrestles gym equipment, it runs around with traffic cones, it tries (and fails) at doing backflips. Full of wild and outrageous antics, this unsanctioned city representative has become one of the most popular mascots in the world!
WHAT IS CHIITAN?
Chiitan is a yuru-chara or a mascot character. In a land where cuteness reigns supreme, a lot of cities, regions, events, organizations, and businesses rely on yuru-charas to help in promotion. According to the creators of Chiitan, their unsanctioned yuru-chara for Susaki is a “0-year-old fairy baby” otter.
Just like most mascots in Japan, Chiitan has a super cute design! Bright, big eyes, pretty lashes, and a cute little pink ribbon around its neck - if you didn’t know about Chiitan’s over-the-top capers, you’d think that it’d be any regular kawaii character mascot. But, if you dig just a little deeper into this cutie you’ll realize that it’s full of chaotic surprises.
For one, if you take a look at Chiitan’s head, you’ll see that this otter is actually wearing the small turtle named Kame-chan on its head. Chiitan also has a baby bottle attached to its neck! Why? We’re not entirely sure, but it’s Chiitan’s turtle hat and baby bottle appendage are both pretty great indicators that this yuru-chara or mascot isn’t just like any other kawaii character in Japan.
WHO IS CHIITAN?
Okay, it’s about time we got to know a little more about who Chiitan really is. Filled with curiosity and mischief, Chiitan is a fairy otter who’s become even more energetic and tomboyish as they’ve grown up over the years. This cutie plays with anything given to them with all their might, thinking that this is the normal way to play!
Despite all the wild antics that people see Chiitan doing online, this otter mascot is super friendly. It’s good friends with the children in the neighborhood of Susaki and one of its biggest worries is that it’ll feel lonely when the kids start growing up and stop playing with them. Chiitan also hates getting angry - its dream is to make people smile all around the world!
WHO IS THE TURTLE THAT CHIITAN WEARS ON ITS HEAD?
That would be Kame-chan! This turtle isn't just a hat, it's actually Chiitan's pet. The reason why Kame-chan always gets mistaken for a hat is that it loves spending its time hanging out on Chiitan's head.
Like Chiitan, Kame-chan is a genderless fairy that's eternally 0 years old. This turtle doesn't get angry often, but when they do they're super scary! Speaking in a fake Kansai dialect, Kame-chan is the one who interjects to explain Chiitan's crazy little antics.
WHAT ANIMAL IS CHIITAN?
Some people might think of Chiitan as a hamster because of its brown fur and big round eyes, but it’s actually based on a viral Asian small-clawed otter also named Chiitan! This local otter was known for its super cute videos where it would be curious about almost anything that it found. Loved by Susaki’s residents for its “adorable squeaks that could melt even the coldest hearts,” Chiitan the otter was named the honorary tourism ambassador of the city in 2016.
WHAT CITY IS CHIITAN THE MASCOT OF?
As we mentioned earlier, Chiitan is the unofficial mascot of Susaki City in Japan. This yuru-chara was originally created in 2017 as the kawaii representation of the real-life otter Chiitan. Susaki City loved the little otter, and it seemed fitting that the otter would get its own mascot. However, before Chiitan the yuru-chara was created, Susaki City already had its own otter representative, Shinjo-kun! That’s why Chiitan could never be the official mascot of the city.
SHINJO-KUN VS. CHIITAN
So, who exactly is Shinjo-kun (しんじょう君), the real representative of Susaki? Well, unlike Chiitan who is based on the Asian small-clawed otter, Shinjo-kun is based on an extinct Japanese river otter whose last official sighting was in the Shinjo River in Susaki in 1979.
Created in 2013, Shinjo-kun came way ahead of Chiitan. The two share similar character designs since they both come from Japanese illustrator Koh Hashibiro. It isn’t hard to tell them apart though. Shinjo-kun has dark brown fur, while Chiitan’s coloring is more on the golden side. Shinjo-kun also doesn’t wear a turtle on its head. Instead, it has a Nabeyaki ramen bowl as a hat!
Shinjo-kun is also much more well-behaved than Chiitan. This otter doesn’t run around the streets wreaking havoc as Chiitan does. That’s probably because Shinjo-kun is older than Chiitan with the mind of a well-behaved 5-year-old otter. Instead of doing outrageous things, Shinjo-kun spends his time doing his hobbies like fashion, anime, games, and DJing.
HOW OLD IS CHIITAN?
Chiitan is an otter child that’s permanently 0-years-old. That’s why it often goes on wild, childish antics around Susaki. Like any kind of otter, Chiitan is filled with curiosity about the world. It’ll play with anything, though sometimes playtime can get a tad bit rough and violent.
WHAT ARE CHIITAN’S PRONOUNS?
Since this wild little otter child is a fairy, it doesn’t have any gender! So, Chiitan goes by the pronouns, it or they. If we’re to be honest though, this outrageous and overly mischievous otter is way too busy playing around to worry about pronouns. Gender is for normal mascots and Chiitan is far from your regular kawaii character.
HOW TALL IS CHIITAN?
Despite being an eternal otter baby, Chiitan is actually one of the taller mascots in Japan. According to people who’ve been able to meet Chiitan up close, this wild child actually stands at seven feet tall when you include its turtle hat, Kame-chan! True to its chaotic nature, Chiitan is always full of surprises.
WHO IS INSIDE OF CHIITAN?
That’s a huge mystery that’s yet to be solved! No one really knows who’s the real person inside of Chiitan though a lot of people are hoping that it might be a kawaii little lady. What we do know however is that the mastermind behind the 0-year-old fairy otter mascot is a group of people at Chiitan, the Tokyo-based production company created for Chiitan the otter.
WHY IS CHIITAN SO POPULAR?
Well, if you combine cuteness and chaos, you’ll get a pretty popular baby otter. Chiitan dominated social media platforms like Twitter with over-the-top and insane videos of the mascot doing all sorts of antics. There are videos of Chiitan rolling down hills after pogo jumping, doing rail stunts on a skateboard, joining wrestling matches, and chasing kids around the park - all of them outrageously funny and wildly viral.
HOW POPULAR IS CHIITAN?
Over the years Chiitan has gained quite a reputation online, gaining about 2.1 million Twitter followers and 2.3 million followers on Instagram. The kawaii wild child mascot became so popular that it actually got collabs some of the biggest names and some of the biggest companies in Japan.
One of the best examples of this was in 2018 when Chiitan was hired by Square Enix to promote its video game Just Cause 4. The otter fairy did a bunch of stunts based on action sequences from the video game. Chiitan flew into metal boxes, rode into a wind tunnel, jumped across gaps with a grappling hook, and jumped from heights while using umbrellas to break its fall.
A year after that Chiitan gained even more online exposure after it became one of the topics in an episode of HBO’s popular program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The British American comedian host explained the mascot's origins and had nothing but great things to say about Chiitan, calling the cute otter baby’s videos “virtuosic” and “a work of art.”
After the episode, Oliver then sent his own mascot “Chiijohn,” a 41-year-old nearsighted English fairy baby to Susaki to befriend Chiitan’s other otter sibling, Shinjo-Kun. Chiitan got so mad that Shinjo-kun and Chiijohn were friends that the fairy baby otter mascot challenged Oliver to a “NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH.”
The yuru-chara even tried to get Dwayne “The Rock Johnson” to pressure Oliver to fight with it! It was such a hilarious online brawl that Oliver couldn’t help but respond humorously in a tweet saying that “I’m in a public beef with an unsanctioned Japanese otter. I needed this.” Chiitan really knows how to get himself into all kinds of shenanigans!
WHY WAS CHIITAN BANNED?
Well, as entertaining as Chiitan is, the 0-year-old fairy otter’s social media posts are pretty controversial in Japan. By January 2019, the city government of Susaki had received 100 complaints from its citizens who didn’t like that it was associated to the chaotic mascot. Apparently, Chiitan’s antics were just too wild and violent for the city.
Not only that but there were a lot of people who started believing that Chiitan was a “bad influence” on Susaki City’s official mascot, Shinjo-kun. You see, in one of Chiitan’s post, the fairy otter yuru-chara was carrying a baseball bat while Shinjo-kun was dressed as a gangster. The photo was captioned, “We’re the bosses, don’t mess with us or well commit otterocities.” It was hilarious, but some people in the city of Susaki didn’t find it funny at all.
Because of the many complaints against Chiitan, the city’s mayor Kosaku Kusunose officially requested that the chaotic kawaii mascot “suspend activities,” in 2019. Chiitan’s management company ignored the request, leading to the city filing a court case against it in February of that year.
When Susaki broke ties with Chiitan, collaborators at the time ended their relationship with the character including TV Tokyo which had been producing an anime called “Fairy Chiitan,” and SEGA Games which had been working on a game for the mascot.
WHERE IS CHIITAN IN JAPAN NOW?
Even though Chiitan is no longer associated with Susaki, the wild yuru-chara is still on the loose in Japan. On its website, you can see all of this chaotic cutie's socials with multiple profiles on Twitter - a main account, an Osaka account, a Kyushu account, a Hiroshima account, a Nagayo account, and even an account for Thailand. Goes to show that Chiitan has a hold on a lot of places around the country that loves all things kawaii.
Even now, Chiitan gets a ton of offers to visit different establishments - from skateparks, hot springs, to restaurants, this silly mascot gets to take its shenanigans all around Japan. The citizens of Susaki might think that Chiitan’s antics are a tad bit too wild and dangerous, but the outlandish otter still has tons of fans who love its antics! If you’re lucky enough you can even spot Chiitan on the street and take pictures with it in Japan- this yuru-kyara randomly appears out of the blue anywhere in the country.
COLLABS WITH CHIITAN!
Despite being banned from Susaki, a lot of people still love working with Chiitan. Over the years this reckless little baby otter has had quite a number of teamups. From the sweet gift box collab with Ookini, the kawaii project with Japanese konbini (convenience store) chain Thank You Mart, to the t-shirt line with clothing shop Nier, Chiitan’s been able to work with a number of companies in Japan!
CHIITAN IN THE WORLD OF KAWAII
Speaking of companies, did you know that Chiitan got a chance to work with the biggest kawaii company in the world, Sanrio? In 2018, the otter fairy yuru-chara was invited to play in the wildly popular Sanrio theme park, Puroland. Chiitan was originally looking for Cinnamoroll at Puroland but ended up “gatecrashing” the popular Sanrio character parade, the Miracle Parade. Sanrio fans had a lot of fun with the chaotic Chiitan. To commemorate Chiitan’s visit, Sanrio also sold Chiitan x Sanrio character goods during the event.
MEET CHIITAN’S OTHER MASCOT FRIENDS
Aside from Shinjo-kun, Chiitan has a bunch of other mascot friends that it plays with from time to time. One of these friends is Iwashika-chan. Chiitan got to meet with the kawaii deer mascot Iwashika-chan during a campaign with the New Ginger Museum. Playtime between the two characters went smoothly for a while until Chiitan decided to wrestle together with Iwashika-chan. The otter fairy can be really unpredictable sometimes!
Chiitan’s most popular friend though is Sonic the Hedgehog. The quick-witted and easygoing star of Nintendo’s popular Sonic game series has a bunch of videos playing around with Chiitan. The two get into all sorts of mischief, beating up boxes and dancing together. You could say Sonic and Chiitan make a pretty interesting mascot match.
ROCK ON WITH CHIITAN!
Chiitan’s always been pretty rowdy and wild, that’s why it should come as no surprise that this mischievous little fairy otter fits perfectly into the world of rock and roll in Japan. In 2024, Chiitan formed a heavy metal rock band called Chiitan☆KISS~Love's Rock Band~. The band's members include Chiitan as the lead vocalist, fairy-human Moa-chan on bass, turtle-fairy Turtle on drums, and mascot Iccchan on guitars. The band's dream is to see people smile through music. Its ultimate goal is to play at Japan's biggest rock fest, the Budokan!
CHIITAN PLAYS GAMES!
Chiitan's unruliness makes it a pretty great gaming star. Aside from its stint with Square Enix’s Just Cause 4, the naughty otter fairy has had a few gaming app collaborations over the years. In 2018 it had a collab campaign together with the smartphone app "Grimoire-Private Grimioire Magic Academy." That same year it also got to team up together with the Japanese gaming app "You Are a Hero," for a fun event with gacha items.
LET’S PLAY WITH CHIITAN’S PC
Did you know that Chiitan’s got its own gaming PC? Japanese Gaming PC brand Astromeda decided to work together with everyone’s favorite little fairy otter, giving Chiitan its very own PC in 2024. Called the “Chiitan Special Collaboration PC,” this limited-edition item has a white casing with a super cute Chiitan design. It’s the perfect PC for gamers with a gaming streak as wild and unpredictable as Chiitan!
INVEST IN CHIITAN COIN!
As a curious little otter, Chiitan likes dipping its paws into all sorts of activities, and it seems like everyone’s favorite Yuru-chara’s decided to add cryptocurrency to its resume of madness. In 2024 the team behind Chiitan decided to launch its own crypto coin. Called Chiitan☆Coin, this meme coin is built on the Solana blockchain and is a legitimate form of cryptocurrency for fans to invest in.
Will fans get rich on Chiitan☆Coin? Well, with any meme coin, nothing is for certain. “Think of buying Chiitan☆Coin like purchasing a Chiitan T-shirt—just for fun, with no expectation of financial return,” the Chiitan team says. Still, there’s nothing wrong in getting a few Chiitan Coins for the fun of it!
MEET THE PRO-WRESTLER CHIITAN!
Chiitan's always played a little bit rough with its toys, so why not play rough with wrestlers instead? In 2023 Chiitan made its wrestling debut at DDT Pro-Wrestling's Mega Max Bump event. It's been quite the wrestling sensation, battling pro wrestlers like the mascot-hating Chris Brookes, the legendary Aja Kong, and the buff Kazuki Hirata. Ever since his debut at DDT, Chiitan’s been working hard to become an expert pro wrestler too.
CHIITAN PLAYS SOCCER
Though Chiitan’s rambunctious energy might be a little bit too much for some people in Susaki, Japanese soccer teams find this otter fairy’s antics downright hilarious. From time to time the yuru-chara gets invited to a ton of soccer games in Japan. In 2021, Chiitan had a fun game with other mascots during the Yuruchara Soccer Kankitsu FC. A year after that, Chiitan also joined another mascot match in the UCL in Japan.
RELAX AT THE CHIITAN CAFE!
Unlike popular kawaii characters like Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin, Chiitan doesn’t really have its own permanent cafe. From time to time, however, this mischievous little otter fairy gets collaboration cafes all around Japan. These cafes are the perfect place for Chiitan fans to hang out and laugh over the silly videos that the yuru-chara uploads online.
One of these cafes includes the “Chiitan☆ Cafe” created by Yurakucho Marui in 2018 which offered desserts and drinks all featuring Susaki’s unsanctioned wild child otter. That same year, Chiitan got a collab menu with Cafe ~Ho~ that was inspired by the yuru-chara. Princess Cafe in Tokyo and Osaka also did a collaboration with the Otter Fairy in October 2018 giving fans the chance to feast on tasty Chiitan dishes, desserts, and specialty drinks. All of these cafes also offered limited-edition Chiitan items that fans could collect!
WHERE TO FIND CHIITAN MERCH?
So, you’re wondering how to start building a shrine to Chiitan, Japan’s Crazy Mascot. Though Chiitan doesn’t have a physical shop of its own, you can always stumble on cute Chiitan merch around Japan especially when the fairy otter has collaboration projects. Chiitan events also usually have stalls selling exclusive items for fans to collect!
Worried that you won’t be able to make it to a Chiitan event with merch? Well, this hyperactive yuru-chara has its own online shop where you can order Chiitan plushies, photos, shirts, and even claw-shaped sandals. You don’t need to hold back when you add all of the Chiitan goodies to your kawaii haul.
Welp, it seems like we’ve run out of energy running around with Chiitan today. We learned a lot about Japan’s crazy mascot - its beginnings as the mascot for the otter Chiitan, the controversy that led to its ban from Susaki, and all of the collabs that Chiitan has now. Curious, silly, and a tad bit volatile, Chiitan is an entertaining yuru-chara that’s fun to follow!
Did you have fun learning about Japan’s crazy mascot, Chiitan? Have you ever seen any of Chiitan’s outrageous antics? Which Chiitan video do you like the most? Do you think the mascot deserved to be banned from its own city? Feel free to go crazy like Chiitan and tell us everything you love about this silly little otter fairy in the comment section below.