Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 1st day part 1

みきゃん ダークみきゃん アイキャッチ画像

[Introduction]

I traveled to Matsuyama, the capital of Ehime Prefecture, for 4 days and 3 nights. The main purpose of this trip was to watch Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 on the last 2 days. My favorite Milan, which is the mascot character of Ehime Prefecture, did not participate in the contest, but entertained other local mascot characters and the audience as a host of the event with Barysan, Imabari city’s mascot character. I also participated in a PR event for the Grand Prix and did some sightseeing. In this article, I will write about Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 1st day part 1 as part of Day 3.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1 (1) Yuru-chara Grand Prix PR event 1 (Okaido and Gintengai) 
* Day 1 (2) Yuru-chara Grand Prix PR event 2 (Ropeway street and Dogo Onsen) 
* Day 1 (3) Dogo Onsen (Light up)
* Day 2 (1) Mican Center at Ehime prefectural government office
* Day 2 (2) Ninomaru Historical Garden and Matsuyama Castle
* Day 2 (3) Matsuyama Castle (Light up)
* Day 3 (1) Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 1st day part 1 [This article]
* Day 3 (2) Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 1st day part 2
* Day 3 (3) Okaido (Bansuiso Villa and Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum etc.)
* Day 4 (1) Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 2nd day part 1
* Day 4 (2) Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 2nd day part 2
* Day 4 (3) Matsuyama City Station (Tram, Matsuchika Town etc.)

[Travel Date]
2016.11.03-06

[Main Part]

It was the 3rd day of my trip to Ehime Matsuyama. Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016, which was the main objective of this trip, will start from the day. Before Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016, I took a walk in the morning.

Walking in the morning (around JR Matsuyama station)

It took about 10 minutes on foot between the hotel I stayed (Hotel JAL City Matsuyama) and JR Matsuyama station, and I walked to JR Matsuyama station while taking photos of trams.

To begin with, around the hotel.愛媛 松山 市内電車(路面電車)1

愛媛 松山 市内電車(路面電車)2

The photo below was taken at near the railroad crossing at Otemachi station.伊予鉄道 大手町 踏切

You can see that a railway and a tram crossed each other, so the spot was famous for railfans.

Then, around JR Matsuyama station.愛媛 松山 市内電車(路面電車)3

愛媛 松山 市内電車(路面電車)4

Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016

Now I will start to write aboutYuru-chara Grand Prix 2016.

Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 has started since 2011 and this was the 6th event. The event was held at Shiroyama Park for 2 days (Nov 5-6).

Opening Ceremony

First, I wactch the opening ceremony.""

Mican, Dark Mican, Kumamon and Barysan.ゆるキャラグランプリ 2016 オープニングセレモニー

There were lots of audieince already.""

Tape cutting.""

Gate open

The opening ceremony ended and the event started.""

After I passed the entrance, I found a variety of local mascot characters greet visitors.ゆるキャラグランプリ 2016 1

ゆるキャラグランプリ 2016 2

You can see how busy the event site was.ゆるキャラグランプリ 2016 3

ゆるキャラグランプリ 2016 4

There was a zone for sponsoring companies and some companies displayes products related Mican.みきゃん 伯方の塩

みきゃん Pasco(敷島製パン)

みきゃん 一六タルト

みきゃん フィアット

At Mican and Dark Mcan booth, I found a Mican.""

Since Mican’s birthday will come on next week (November 11), visiotrs sent messges for Mican.みきゃん 誕生日

Yuru-chara PR time

Local characters made presenrtation to ask for voting at Shimanami stage.

くえどん/くえ太郎(和歌山県白浜観光協会)

いのとん(愛媛県東温市)

ミツバチみっちゃん((株)GSクラフト)

コバトン・さいたまっち(埼玉県)

しらぺん(和歌山県白浜町)

なーしくん(愛媛県南宇和郡愛南町)

コバサン太((株)コバック)

Mican and Dakk Mican special stage

After Yuru-chara PT time, there was a special stage performed by Mican and Dark Mican.みきゃん&ダークみきゃん1

To begin with, Mican was introduced.みきゃん1

Then, Dark Mican was introduced.ダークみきゃん1

At first, Mican and Dark Mican were friendly to eah other, butみきゃん&ダークみきゃん2

Dark Mican started to hit Mican with his piko piko hammer.みきゃん&ダークみきゃん3

It’s something like a cliche plot.みきゃん&ダークみきゃん4

Dark Mican also hit an event hostess.ダークみきゃん2

After all, Mican and Dark Mican cooperated to appeal the event and Ehime prefecture and the special stage ended.みきゃん&ダークみきゃん6

Other Snap photos

Then, I moved to the groumet event zone. There were 49 stalls to provide food menu.""

""

""

Since I expected long queue around noon, I decided to have an early lunch now. I bought “Mitsuhama yaki”.三津浜焼き

After lunch, I took several snap photos.""

ダークみきゃん3

からりちゃん(道の駅「内子フレッシュパークからり」)とおたたちゃん(愛媛県松前町商工会)

ハッぴぃ ショッぴぃ フジッぴぃ

ゆるキャラグランプリ 2016 5

Yuru-chzra haiku

“Yuru-chara haiku” event was held at Shiroyama stage.ゆるキャラ俳句1

Matsuyama is famous as the world capital of haiku culture. “Yuru-chara haiku” event was held to decide who made the best haiku among local characters.

Mican and Dark Mican supported the event.ゆるキャラ俳句2

The judge was a famous haiku poet writer.""

This local characthers won the event.宮崎県遊技業協同組合 みやっP~

I continued to watch “Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016”, but I will write about it in the next article as part2.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 1st day part1 as part of Day 3. During the opening ceremony, the governor of Ehime prefecture mentioned that he directly negotiated with officials of Yuru-chara Grand Prix to attract Yuru-chara Grand Prix event in Ehime. I wondered how the site was determined for long time, but now my question was cleared.

Talking of the governor of Ehime prefecture, when I visited Matsuyama last November to watch Mican’s parade, he also made a speech and disclosed a secret story as to how Dark Mican was born. If you are interested in it, please see the following link.

Going to Mican’s parade: part 1
みきゃん 中村知事

In the next article, I will write about Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016 1st day part 2 as part of Day 3.

[Map]

[Related Link]
The official Website of Tourism Matsuyama


2 Comments

  1. It’s great to see your articles about Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2016. Your story about going to the 2015 Grand Prix inspired my wife and me to travel to the 2016 Grand Prix this year in Matsuyama and it was a great experience. The detail you put into writing about your trips is very useful for people who are planning trips to Japan, especially since there is not much information in English about places like Matsuyama. Thank you!

    1. Hi Patrick, thank you for reading my blog! Actually, it takes much time for me to post blog articles in English in addition to Japanese, but your comment is very encouraging! Anyway, I hope you and your wife found useful information about Japan through my blog 🙂

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