Mascot gives Ishiba birthday surpriseーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS #shorts

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru turned 68 on Tuesday and received a birthday surprise from the official mascot character of Expo 2025 in Osaka.

Tuesday was also exactly 68 days before the Expo opens.

In an effort to boost interest in the Expo, a mechanical version of the official mascot, “Myaku-Myaku,” has been set up at the prime minister’s office. It has a function that
that detects people’s approach with a sensor, and then talks.

When Ishiba walked past the mascot, it suddenly spoke up.

“I’m Myaku-Myaku. Come to Osaka and the Kansai World Expo,” it said.

Ishiba jumped. He then waved his hands and asked his secretary how the mascot worked.

The Prime Minister’s Office is thinking of increasing Myaku-Myaku’s vocabulary, in the hope it will help promote the Expo to dignitaries both from Japan and overseas.

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