KOBE — A red and blue Santa Claus doll reminiscent of the popular Osaka Expo mascot “Myaku-Myaku” will decorate Uroko House in the historic Kobe Kitano Ijinkan-gai quarter here until Christmas Day.
With a height of about 3 meters, the Santa poses with its arms raised as if delighted by the success of the Expo. Above it is the event’s Grand Ring decorated with various participating countries’ flags.
Since 2009, the residence in Kobe’s Kitano district has annually displayed a plastic foam Santa doll and other figures representing notable events of the year. Other decorations this time include dolls representing Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister in its constitutional history, and others holding up numbers as references to the nation’s high rice prices and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Hana Narusaka, a 22-year-old university student who traveled from the city of Chiba near Tokyo, commented, “Looking at the decorations reminded me of the year.”
(Japanese original by Maiko Umeda, Osaka Photo and Video Department)
AloJapan.com