I did not notice the resemblance to Buddha to which you refer, and I'm still not sure I do (except for the ears, perhaps). To me, he looks more like a plump little boy.
Many descriptions of Sento-kun omit any reference to Buddha, calling him just a boy: http://us.jnto.go.jp/anime/pdf/sento_kun_profile.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sento-kun This may be because many religious Japanese saw the character as grotesque.or even blasphemous: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/04/22/japan-love-and-hate-story-of-the-mascot-character-sento-kun/ It is in any event an example of kimokawaii. Thanks for the education, Eric. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 8:08 PM, Eric Featherstone <eric.featherst...@gmail.com> wrote: > The "lad" is Buddha (hence his style of clothing), a reference to the > daibutsu or giant Buddha in the temple, Tōdaiji. So really it's a > combination of two things Nara is famous for. And I'm sure there's an > element of kawaii intended. > > He's more controversial than I was aware of though. > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2074689/Manto-kun-the-blob-takes-on-Sento-kun-the-Buddha-boy-in-Nara-mascot-battle.html > > > Eric > > On 4 June 2015 at 17:26, Daniel J. Matyola <danmaty...@gmail.com> wrote: >> I'me certain you are correct, Eric. The display next to the lad had >> railroad brochures, but other than the word "railroad" I could not >> discern any meaning in them. Nara is the most popular day trip from >> Kyoto, and we considered going there but ran out of time. >> >> Why not a deer for a mascot, instead of a boy with deer antlers? I >> guess that would not be "kawaii" enough. >> >> Dan Matyola >> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola >> >> >> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 11:19 AM, Eric Featherstone >> <eric.featherst...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> On 4 June 2015 at 15:35, Daniel J. Matyola <danmaty...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> This was in the lobby of our hotel in Kyoto. >>>> Some things in Japan simply defy explanation: >>>> http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=18033024&size=md >>>> K-5 II S, DA 18-135 zoom >>>> Comments are invited. >>> >>> Nice. >>> >>> It's sento-kun, the city mascot of the ancient captial Nara, about >>> half an hour south of Kyoto. Nara being famous for its deer, hence the >>> antlers. It seems to be an advertising campaign to get tourists to go >>> there. >>> >>> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sento-kun&tbm=isch >>> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sento-kun >>> >>> There are odder mascots; Funabashi (Chiba prefecture nr Tokyo) has a >>> banana called Funasshi. >>> http://www.japancrush.com/2013/pictures/unofficial-mascot-funasshii-elected-as-japans-no-1-mascot.html >>> >>> -- >>> Eric >>> >>> -- >>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>> PDML@pdml.net >>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>> follow the directions. >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > > > -- > Eric > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
