NHK Character Shop

Japan is bananas to an American like myself. Part of the culture requires seemingly every business, police department and train station to have a mascot character and/​or a musical jingle. Most of my day is taken up by chuckling to myself or outright laughing in public and getting that «he’s a crazy gaijin» look from bystanders. Part of me wants to politely reason with them: «No, please understand that from where I come from this is like living an episode of Pee Wee’s Playhouse.»
NHK is a Japanese BBC or ABC. You know how both of those big Western media networks have tons of its own cartoon characters, and run their own toy stores literally filled with cutesy plushes, home goods and gifts? Oh, that’s right; they don’t have any of that. No one else has anything like that. Anywhere.
If you’re at the Kyoto Station, run past this store. Take in everything you’re seeing. Realize that this isn’t a toy maker; this is an internationally respected news broadcaster. Just another reason why Japan is bloody awesome.