Chiitan the protean traveling theater of a puppet without a wire-puller

A blend of pop-culture and animistic tradition, the Yuru-chara or Japanese mascots have become key elements in the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. Omnipresent and very popular, most of them stand for a trademark, a firm, a town or a region. So they have no inherent personality, they embody the values of the society or the administrative center they are employed by. Most of them are simple characters, very laid-back, kind, friendly and often fairly clumsy.

Thus, in 2013, the small town of Susaki created and unveiled its official mascot, Shinjô-kun, a mascot like an otter as an homage to the river otter, a species which was declared extinct in the 70ies. Very cute and lovely with its noodle bowl on its head, it was elected official mascot of the year 2016.

So everything was fine and perfect in the sweet little world of Japanese mascots until that fateful day of 15th December 2017, when there came into the world a fairy baby otter. It has small claws, its name is Chiitan. What appeared then was a double of Shinjô-kun, but it was even more cute and lovely than its elder model. It had a small, pink, heart-shaped nose, big round wide-staring eyes with long lashes, a pink bowtie with a baby’s bottle hanging from it and, as a finishing touch, a pink and yellow turtle by way of a hat. Thanks to its perfect aesthetics, Chiitan is a worthy representative of the Japanese style called Kawaii, i.e. cute, lovely and adorable.

Born in Tokyo in the high-tech district of Akihabara, the fairy baby otter made itself conspicuous in no time on the social networks. As a mascot representing solely itself, its videos elicited an enthusiastic support from hundreds of thousands of cybernauts throughout the world. Its ascent was dazzling, millions of people subscribed to its accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok as well as its YouTube channel. It was and still is a real international phenomenon, contrary to the panic of sorts it brought about in Japan. Chiitan would become a media sensation and hit the headlines of some American mainstream newspapers such as the New York Times or the Rolling Stone Magazine. Indeed, it seemed that a giant fairy baby otter was apt to spread terror in Japan…

Referred to as psychotic, undisciplined, delinquent, borderline and the like, it’s a rogue mascot tipping over a car in broad daylight, strolling around armed with a baseball bat slipped into its high boots and maybe planning to pay you a visit with that… All of which is filmed and circulated through social networks. Of course it crosses the line for certain Japanese residents who call the police arguing they have seen a giant otter playing dangerously with an electric strimmer machine in the middle of the street.

The American TV-Channel CNN picked up the story. Chiitan’s case was now a burning issue. The adjectives used to define the mascot came thick and fast : insane, neurotic, rebellious, nutty… In the background of numerous incredible videos of that loony otter we see it climbing up a dance pole. Chris Carlier, a great specialist of mascots, is invited. 

What to say about Chiitan ? Answering is impossible, such a thing has never been seen !

A few months later, it was John Oliver’s turn to devote one of his broadcasts on the HBO Channel. As he himself says in his own singular way while showing Chiitan’s exploits : « No, your eyes are not deceiving you ! »… You can think whatever you like of Chiitan, but one thing is certain : you’ll never be bored with it !

A regular doppelgänger of Shinjô-kun, Chiitan would seem to be that maleficent double, a sort of wild child spending much time frenziedly hitting an inflatable plastic tube with a baseball bat and noisily crashing into a high pile of metallic boxes.

But what on earth does Chiitan do ? It runs, hits things, slides, swims, falls asleep in the water, flies, enjoys bungee jumping from a bridge, twists and turns on a surfboard, skates, drives a motorbike at high speed with a police car hot in his wake…

Anyway, all the videos of Chiitan’s exploits have gone viral, soon passed and commented on through the social networks. So that in May 2019 it ended up being banned from Twitter for good.

But what had Chiitan been up to again ? Had it deserved being banned for challenging John Oliver to a duel ? Had the stunts it performs been labeled as too dangerous to be seen by millions of people and specifically children ? Had the Japanese government aimed, as it was given to understand, to put a stop to the doings and misdemeanors of that unofficial mascot setting the world on fire ? So far no-one really knows why Chiitan was ousted from Twitter…

Nevertheless, the news was a bombshell with the fans of the mascot, they promptly swung into action and launched a petition online : « Free Chiitan ». Some others came out with slogans like « otter confronted with an affront! » or « otter unjustly arrested for Twitter crimes ! »… Most people expressed a sincere indignation, all the more so as the Twitter supervising committee never warned Chiitan against anything objectionable on that social network. Chiitan was very sad and didn’t feel very well. On the web, a photograph showed it sitting on a bench, almost huddled behind imaginary bars, with a faraway look in the eyes… The image was dreadful and the fans left no stone unturned in order to put an end to what they perceived as a tragedy. Yet, in spite of all that commotion, the Twitter censorship board still turned a deaf ear…. It became urgent to make a decision and take steps… But what could be done ? 

Chiitan in person took action and resolved to open a new Twitter account. Its first message was very simple : « Hi folks ! This is Chiitan. I’ve started a new account. Thanks for following me. I love you ».

Chiitan was back with its specific videos but also, significantly enough, with very special messages often accompanying its feats. Indeed, Chiitan can also evince great wisdom. Moreover, some of the things it has declared on social networks have occasionally made a lasting impression. In a recent interview Mitsuki Hayashi, CEO of Extasy Records, said that something Chiitan said had saved his life. He was going through a very bad patch, feeling dejected and thought he would never get though, until the day when he came across this sobering declaration : « Just being alive is basically a success ».

Chiitan’s messages abound in quotations sometimes borrowed from various sources but all asserting basically the same thing : live in a light-hearted way, free from anxiety, live a life of higher emotion and deep feelings, refrain from thinking too much (an allusion to a famous sentence of Charlie Chaplin in The Dictator : « We think too much and feel too little »). Chiitan thus stands as the messenger for a manner of living very close to a child’s lack of care and natural capacity to be in wonderment.

This can be seen in all its videos : it enjoys itself, very often falls, stands up again and carries on until exhaustion. For Chiitan the notion of failure is a delusion. Its way of going about life is like cocking a snook at Plato, Descartes and Kant… As Chiitan explains in the story of its birth, we should always do our best according to our abilities and skills. We cannot work miracles…

Chiitan often makes fun of itself and its weaknesses but of course enjoys poking fun at others. Chiitan has an insight into the subtleties of parody and frequently resorts to it. In one of its videos it takes up a very famous scene of the film entitled Titanic and assumes the role of Leonardo DiCaprio. The vast ship has of course turned into a rubber dinghy and Kame-Chan, the turtle used as a hat, replaces Rose. It’s no longer called Titanic but Chiitanic and the soundtrack is indeed the music of the film but played by a shrill, ear-splitting flute. Tom Cruise himself is not spared by Chiitan’s spoofs precisely in a version of Mission Impossible renamed Mission Impotence and spiced up with a few invariably clumsy stunts all boiling down to hilarious blunders.

Chiitan the Fool, Clown and Buffoon but also the Sage… Is that all ? No, of course !

It’s also an artist, it’s very gifted at freehand drawing. Each live show on TikTok is rounded off with a present meant for the fans : a drawing made on a white board with a simple felt-tip marker… It is always astonishing to see how quickly the drawing is made, in a matter of minutes. Chiitan draws mythological creatures, animals with human forms, musicians... Indeed, Chiitan is also a musician, it created its own band in December 2022, CHIITAN KISS-Aino ROCK BAND, which plays regularly on the Blackhole stage in Tokyo. The Band is a group of Japanese mascots : Chiitan the otter sings, Moa-Chan the fay plays the bass-guitar, Icchan the unidentifiable creature plays the guitar and Kame-Chan the turtle is on the drums. They play heavy metal rock to full houses and even signed a contract with the Japanese Label Extasy Records in April 2023…

Since its birth on 15th December 2017, Chiitan has been the same Chiitan, not in the least changed. It has the self-same wide-staring eyes, little pink heart-shaped nose. Time has stood still with it, it cannot look a day older !… There's a good reason for that, it’s a fairy baby otter which will never grow (« a 0-year-old fairy » as is said in the story of its birth on its official internet site, chiitan.love). It will be eternally young with its innumerable faces : fool, clown, buffoon, draughtsman, stuntman, athlete, wrestling champion, musician, DJ and Sage. Very kind and friendly towards its fans, Chiitan is worlds apart from some people’s misrepresentation of it as a wild and unpredictable thing.

Let’s now get down to brass-tacks : what does Chiitan think of Chiitan ?

In April 2023 Chiitan granted an interview to newspaper journalists and gave some clues as far as its birth is concerned (in writing, of course, because Chiitan never speaks) : « I was born wanting to do a dropkick in a modern age without order ».

So, in actual fact, where is order lacking ? With Chiitan or the world ? 

What about Chiitan’s function ? Is it not simply to laugh off the ‘’world disorder organization’’ and help us forget or transcend it, be it only temporarily ? 

What about those people who praise Chiitan’s healing capacities ? 

Chiitan’s world is one of childhood, joy, innocence and, as an extra, that little gift of love which makes it such a generous, endearing person. All that Chiitan aims at is helping others to transcend the monotony and the prevailing chaos and make do with it. That is epitomized in one sentence in the story of Chiitan’s birth on the internet site known as chiitan.love : « I want to make people around the world smile ».

Because Chiitan displays many gifts and skills (clown, acrobat, wrestler, singer, ice-skater etc.etc.), many fans wonder how many persons hide under that disguise. Such a question is pointless : Chiitan is one and the same puppet, one indivisible soul and spirit. Not unlike a mask-wearing Greek actor, it can express and transmit feelings and emotions. Some fans say « it is a child of God possessing all skills », which is true to fact and verifiable. Chiitan was even appointed as official ambassador of the Tokyo police in October 2023.

During the ceremony, it never listened to the speech of the Police Chief, busy as it was trying to stick its seal on cars parked close by…