Who Is Chiitan? Japan’s Mascot Explained

If you have an X (formerly Twitter) account, Chiitan has likely appeared on your timeline.

Chiitan is a Japanese mascot who has become a Twitter sensation. The account usually shared videos and photos of Chiitan in situations where he ends up in trouble or hurt. With over 153,000 tweets, Chiitan has amassed 1.7 million followers on the platform.

Most people have discovered the mascot after timelines were flooded with paid ads for Chiitan, but Chiitan is not selling anything and simply promotes his wacky videos. But why? And what exactly is Chiitan, anyway?

Who is Chiitan?

Chiitan is a Japanese mascot that is self-described as a “0-year-old fairy baby” otter. The mascot was first created in 2017 as the unofficial representative of the city of Susaki in Japan and participated in videos and events to promote the city alongside Susaki’s actual official mascot, Shinjo-kun.

Chiitan achieved fame in Japan in 2018 after several videos of the mascot performing clumsy or violent stunts went viral on YouTube. The mascot has worked with Square Enix to promote the video game Just Cause 4, and everything seemed to be going well for the mascot.

Chiitan goes international

While younger audiences loved Chiitan, some criticized the videos for being too reckless or dangerous, leading Susaki officials to reject its association with the famed mascot in 2019. This led to several of Chiitan’s lined-up brand deals falling through.

However, his rise to fame was far from over. That same year, Chiitan was the focus of an episode of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, where the host praised Chiitan for being a “work of art.” Oliver revealed he was inspired to create his own mascot, “Chiijohn,” which was basically him as an “English fairy baby.” Chiijohn befriended Shinjo-kun, and Oliver claimed Chiijohn was officially accepted by the Susaki government.

Chiitan responded to Oliver via his Twitter account, joking that he was angry Oliver had stolen his friend and challenged him to a WWE-inspired “no holds barred” fight. In a tweet, he claimed he wanted to give John Oliver a chance to “explode through a table,” and even tried to get Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to join his cause. Oliver reacted to the situation with humor, acknowledging his beef with the mascot and saying, “I needed this.”

Besides being a hilarious mascot who posts about his random antics, Chiitan is also an activist. In 2020, Chiitan appeared in a video supporting Black Lives Matter following the murder of George Floyd. The mascot donated ¥10,498, which earned him praise from the public.

Sadly, it hasn’t been all easy for Chiitan. Following his beef with John Oliver, Chiitan’s Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, and Portuguese accounts were suspended. Not long after, his English accounts were suspected as well, forcing Chiitan to make the account he has today, @Chiitan7407. The company behind Chiitan tried to get their accounts back, and John Oliver and Tony Hawk even voiced their support for the mascot. Sadly, Chiitan never got his original accounts back.

Why is Chiitan all over Twitter?

Though Chiitan has been active on Twitter for years, he is receiving renewed interest for constantly appearing on people’s timelines. This is because several of his videos, where he is seen performing dangerous stunts, are being promoted as paid ads. But why?

In several tweets, Chiitan has revealed that they bought up ad space to prevent users from seeing “bad” ads, such as Cryptocurrency or scam ads that have become rampant on the platform. The mascot is not trying to sell anything, which is why they have resorted to promoting their random, violent stunt videos.

The team behind Chiitan has actually launched their own Cryptocurrency, called Chiitancoin. However, the currency was made to prevent people from abusing Chiitan’s popularity and using his face to create new coins. Dubbed a “meme coin,” they do not encourage their users to purchase it. However, you are able to buy it if you are that inclined to do so.