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While Japan is notorious for its use of sometimes cute, sometimes strange mascots for everything from pachinko parlors to entire cities, the detail of this little character that I found in one of my classrooms amazed me:

Meet Kenketsu-chan. Kenketsu means “blood drive” and chan is an affectionate honorific that would usually be used on a child or between close friends. As you can see, Kenketsu-chan has ears that are actually drops of blood, and as the poster describes, his ears (and his smile) grow the more blood that is donated. Kenketsu-chan even comes with friends, who can be seen at the top and bottom of the poster - one for each of the four blood groups. I guess it’s a strange way of promoting a blood drive, but the concept was so amusing to me that I stole one of the posters for a souvenir.