Chebu

We all knew this blog would come. It is now time to discuss, Cheburashka, or as they say in Japan “Cheburaashika”. For the sake of my typing, we’ll just call him Chebu.

Let me just start by saying that the Japanese abso-possi-lutely LOVE Chebu like he was one of their very own. And why not? He is small, fuzzy, has large, innocent eyes, and a cute voice: all these things make for a winning combination in Japan. Some people even know the Chebu theme song or that he is actually a Russian character. But everyone knows that he is adorable. My friend’s host-family were thrilled when she and I started talking about him on skype one day. In the background, I could hear them all start cooing, “Cheburashka is so cute! How does she know him? What an adorable little bear!” My Japanese professor back at Witt had a Chebu key chain. When I asked her about it, she didn’t have a clue as to who he was, but told me that this little character showed up everywhere in Japan. I didn’t really believe her at first, but since I have come here, I’ve bumped into Chebu a couple times; an advertisement flyer for Jujutsu club, a shrine of Chebu merchandise at a store in Kichijoji, and recently he was in a prominent fashion magazine!

That’s right, folks, you heard it here first, Chebu appeared in these two page spread in Japan’s Nanno Magazine, a very popular fashion magazine for teens and young women. He was right between the Nordic sweaters and leg warmers, if memory serves. The advertisement was for a history show of sorts that will start mid-December and is all about little Chebu. The web address is http://www.cheb-kuma.com/index.html, and introduces you to Chebu, all his friends, and different information about the tour. But it is in Japanese. If you really want to check it out, maybe Google Chrome could translate it for you, but pushing random buttons always works for me.

I was just so shocked to see him pop up again, but I really shouldn’t be. Wouldn’t you know, he’s been in Japan longer than I have, so he’s like my sempai.

p.s. I’m writing this entry in the Yearbook clubroom and Anna walked in. Apparently, she’s a die-hard Chebu fan and her friends gave her Chebu stickers for her planner. Also, she says that there is a Chebu anime!!! I told her about the road show and she got super excited! She says that it is probably a movie about Chebu, but I can find out more later.