Oarai City in Ibaraki Prefecture has a problem. The city is down the coast from Fukushima and tourism is way, waaaay down.
Now Oarai is hoping that their new mascot "Araippe" will stimulate tourism.
According to various Japanese press releases such as the Asahi Shimbun (2013 Oct. 17), their new mascot "Araippe" is made up of the local seafood specialties. As shown below, Araippe’s “charm point” is his coat of whitebait (Shirasu) that hangs his body like hair. Araippe’s mouth is a clam another local delicacy, and his tail is a clam rake.