Japanese Blood Mascots
They may be cute, but they thirst for blood. These official mascot characters are tasked with recruiting blood donors in Japan.
Japan’s most well-known blood donation mascot is Kenketsu-chan (”blood donation girl”), a little pixie with big shiny drops of blood for ears. Kenketsu-chan is the official blood donation mascot of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which maintains a website devoted to the character.
From the site, we know that Kenketsu-chan’s ears shrink when she runs low on blood, but return to their original size when people donate. We also know that she comes from Tasuke Island (Help Island), which features a heart-shaped spring at its center. The spring shoots forth rainbows that carry Kenketsu-chan to wherever people need blood.
