Meet Daizou: Daiso’s Adorable New Mascot

Daiso is a self proclaimed “happy price paradise,” where you can find nearly anything you could possibly need and more at unbeatable prices, usually set at just 100 yen. From everyday household necessities to collectibles, stationery, pet supplies, snacks and other trinkets you didn’t even know you needed, Daiso develops over 1,200 new products every month, and the stores have remained a staple solution for affordable shopping since their first store opened in 1987.

And now, adding to their fabulous roster of offerings is a new face for the brand: Daizou — the adorable happy elephant who loves finding a good deal at the bargain store.

Global Design Department Manager Tatsuru Yanagihara (left) and Daiso ambassador Yumi Takagi (right) officially unveiled Daizou at the Arcakit Kinshicho Mall.

Meet Daizou

Japan has a booming mascot industry and fanclub, with nearly 300 characters recently competing in the Yuru Verse national championship and an estimated thousands more regional yuru kyara mascots.

Daizou, whose name is a play on Daiso and zou (the Japanese word for elephant), was selected out of 392 mascot design submissions. Domestic and international employees from Daiso’s 27 countries of operation voted for the elephant, which became a winner only after a rigorous year-long development process and beating 10 other potential characters in the final round.

To introduce the mascot: Daizou is a friendly elephant who measures 100.3 centimeters tall and weighs 100.3 kilograms — the presence of 100s of course, to match Daiso’s one-coin pricing. Daizou’s birthday is December 5, and the elephant’s hometown is Hiroshima Prefecture, where the company headquarters is also located. The character’s hobbies include traveling and browsing through Daiso stores. Daizou loves eating apples and carefully peeled chestnuts. And being proactive towards the company’s global expansion, Daizou has recently started learning English.

Design Details

Daizou has many elements from his beloved Daiso baked into its design. The elephant’s eye-catching ears not only match the brand’s fuchsia pink color palette, but also create a “D” shape to reflect both the mascot and the company’s initial. Daizou also carries a D-shaped crossbody to store all of his coins and purchases.

The character implements the upward-arrow motif seen in Daiso’s logo. As their corporate profile explains, the three stacked arrows represent a strong commitment to uplifting lifestyles through product and store appeal.

Daiso ambassador Yumi Takagi showing Daizou’s official merchandise.

Daizou Merch and More

To commemorate the birth of Daizou, participating Daiso stores across Japan will be giving away stickers emblazoned with the mascot. Additionally, exclusively at the Arcakit Kinshicho Mall location, customers can take photos with the life-sized Daizou figure and shop for merchandise of the elephant, such as plushies and keychains, ahead of any other store.

Daizou even has its own Line stamps, available in the messaging app’s Line Store.

For a brand that is so massive and iconic as Daiso, it’s a wonder why it took so long for Daizou to come along. But with other 100-yen shops introducing their own representing mascots — such as Can Do’s Wan Do the dog — we may soon have an entire hive of budget buddies.