Ganba-kun

Granted he's not as cute as Omuranchan, I had to give Ganba-kun a big hug today when he made an appearance at the climbing wall. He is the mascot for the national sports competition that Nagasaki will host in the fall. His body is outfitted with small fans inside to keep the guy wearing the costume cool. I could hear the motor when I hugged him!
Ganba-kun's partner is Ranba-chan. Together their names make "Ganbaranba," which is Nagasaki dialect for "do your best."
Today was Challenge Day. Omura paired up with a city of similar size in Kanagawa prefecture and today we competed to see which town could get more people to do 15 minutes of exercise. Climbing was a special featured activity so there was a camera crew, photographers and many people trying out climbing for the first time (which is good, but it was crowded!)