Ieyasu-kun Crowned #1 Mascot at the 2015 Yuru-Chara Grand Prix
Some 1727 mascot characters competed for the chance to be voted Japan's top mascot
On November 21 - 23, 2015, some 1727 yuru-chara ("laidback character") mascots gathered in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan in order to compete in the 2015 Yuru-Chara Grand Prix, an event in which the #1 Japanese mascot character of the year is determined by popular vote.
This year's winner was Hamamatsu City's own mascot, Shusse Daimyo Ieyasu-kun, a laidback character patterned after Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ieyasu-kun garnered 6,953,461 votes. Second and third place went to Mikyan of Ehime Prefecture and Fukka-chan of Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture, who received 6,915,774 votes and 4,011,758 votes, respectively.
A total of about 50,570,000 votes were cast online, and 76,894 people attended the 3-day 2015 Yuru Chara Grand Prix event in Hamamatsu City. Previous notable Yuru-Chara Grand Prix champions include Kumamon in 2011 and Gunma-chan in 2014.
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Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.
