Update:January 16, 2025

"Let's Create Mascot Characters for the Future Sapporo" Exchange Project

As part of its exchange programs with other cities, the City of Sapporo has launched a new program, the "Let’s Create Mascot Characters for the Future Sapporo" Project, in partnership with its fellow UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts, Cali (Colombia). 

This is an exchange program in which children learn about partner cities and design (draw a picture) a mascot character based on the city’s characteristics. The submitted design will then be 3D-animated by Sapporo’s professionals! The final product will be a short computer graphics (CG) video of the characters interacting with each other in the future Sapporo.

This program strives to encourage children to reaffirm and discover things about their city as well as provide an opportunity to learn about exchange cities, fostering a sense of internationalism by understanding the differences between cities. In addition, it also aims to arouse interest among youth in media arts by recreating participants’ drawings through 3D CG.

Project Overview

The children will first discuss the features and characteristics of their city, asking themselves questions such as "What are the characteristics, strengths, initiatives, and heritage of my city?" and "Why are they important to my city?" They will then prepare a list of up to 10 keywords about their city and accompanying descriptions and visuals to exchange with their partner city.

After the children receive the keywords from their partner city, they will imagine what kind of city their partner city is. Based on the submitted keywords and their own research, the children will create a mascot character for their partner city. They will also prepare character details such as its name, concept, characteristics, and personality. The children will then submit their designs to the City of Sapporo for animation professionals to convert them into 3D CG.

After the rendering of the 3D animation has been completed, the City of Sapporo will send the video to both participating cities. Through a message, the children will exchange their thoughts on participating in the project and what they have come to think of each other's cities. 

The final results of this project are planned to be exhibited at the 2025 edition of the Sapporo Parallel Museum.

What Characteristics Did the Children Choose?

What did the children from Sapporo and Cali use as “keywords for their cities” in Session 1?

Sapporo's Characteristics

The students of the Momijidai Junior High School Arts Club chose the following keywords for Sapporo.

Ezo red fox	Snow
Soup curry	Statue of Dr. William S. Clark at Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill
Hatsune Miku/SNOW MIKU	Sapporo Snow Festival
Jingisukan ※A style of Japanese grilled meat that typically uses mutton and lamb.	YOSAKOI Soran Festival
Clock Tower	Lily of the valley

Cali's Characteristics

Children from the Centro Colombo Japonés and the Las Americas School chose the following keywords for Cali.

Petronio Alvarez Pacific Music Festival ※A culture and music festival representative of Cali.	Cholado ※A colorful beverage
Gato de Tejada ※Statue (TRANS: Tejada's Cat)	Colibrí ※Trans: Hummingbird
Loma de Las Tres Cruces ※Trans: Three Crosses Hill	Salsa (music, dance, etc.)
Pan de bono ※A slightly salty, soft bread	Boulevard del Rio
Paseo de olla ※A custom of making a traditional soup called "sancocho" by the river	Rio Pance ※Trans: Pance River

What Kind of Character Did the Children Create?

What kind of characters did the children of Sapporo and Cali create based on each other's cities?

Cali's Mascot Character

The students of the Momijidai Junior High School Arts Club created the following character for Cali.

Name: Calidori

Personality: Bright and full of spirit, loves nature

Special skill: Salsa

Hobbies: Appreciating music and art, having a paseo de olla at the Pance River

Favorite food: Cholado

Concept: With the colibrí, the bird of Cali, serving as the base, various elements of the city were incorporated into the design. A pan de bono is attached to the character’s cholado hat, and beneath it is a piece of cloth reminiscent of salsa clothing. On its stomach is a pattern of three crosses derived from Loma de las Tres Cruces.

Sapporo's Mascot Character

Children from the Centro Colombo Japonés and the Las Americas School designed the following character for Sapporo.

Name: Suzu Akane

Personality: Suzu is clever, charismatic, and resourceful. She is quite extroverted, curious, and enthusiastic about everything. 

Hobbies: Music and dance, attending events such as the YOSAKOI Soran Festival and the Sapporo Snow Festival, playing with children in the snow

Favorite food: Soup curry

Concept: Suzu Akane is a female fox that lives in the highlands of Hokkaido. Her white hair with red highlights is inspired by snow and the YOSAKOI Soran Festival. Her clothes are imaged after the statue of Dr. Clark and SNOW MIKU. She is holding an umbrella made of lilies of the valley.

Complete Video

Sapporo has finished converting Calidori and Suzu Akane into 3DCG and has released the final video in which the two characters appear.

The video is now available on YouTube, so please take a look.

This video will also be shown at the Sapporo Ekimae-dori Underground Walkway (Chi-Ka-Ho) venue of Sapporo Parallel Museum 2025, held from February 1 to 9, 2025. 

For details, please click here (Japanese only).