Japanese Prison Creates Cuddly Mascot to Improve Its Image

Don't think of your stay as an unpleasant one. Katakkuri-chan, the lovable pal on the left, wants you to think of Asahikawa Prison as your new happy home:

Officials say Asahikawa Prison in Japan’s far north is too often thought of only as a dark place with imposing grey walls and not as a place of rehabilitation. [...]

“Prisons have the image of being isolated places that have no contact with the rest of society and are surrounded by imposing grey walls,” said a public relations official at Asahikawa.

“We made the character to change the image into that of a facility open to society and supported by society.

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