Here's an interesting book on Japanese mascots. I didn't know there are so many mascots in Japan, which on hindsight isn't hard to guess since it's the land of manga and anime. However not all the mascots are from manga or anime though.

The book features just slightly over a hundred mascots, ranging from worldwide popularity like Astroboy or Gundam to less known mascot created for government campaigns.

The stories for each mascot is short but entertaining, sometimes hilarious. There's Currypanman who can shoot curry at enemies, Kinnikuman who can fly by farting, Hachiko the cute loyal dog (recently made into a movie starring Richard Gere) and many others, some mythical.

It's a very interesting book for those into Japanese pop culture.

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Here are direct links to the book:
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