Although since replaced with the second generation version, images of the original can still be seen around Gunma, such as at the Gunmaken Bajikoen in Maebashi or the Dodaira-gawa Dam in Shimonita.
Then called Yūma-chan, it made its first official appearance at the 3rd National Sports Tournament for Intellectual Disabled Athletes in 1994.
[5] Submissions for a new mascot design were accepted from the public, with prefectural employee Fumiko Nakajima's being chosen as the winner.
[9] Birthday: 22 February[3] Age: 7-years-old (no matter how many years pass)[3] Special Skills: Mysterious healing power[10] Sex: None Starting in 2000, a Gunma-chan costume was available to rent for private events, helping to improve its name recognition with the public.
[12] After Gunma-chan won the Yuru-Chara Grand Prix in 2014, Gunma established guidelines for those renting the costumes, including a limited number of gestures and moves that were allowed to be performed in public.
[12][13] On 12 May 2020, Gunma's Media Promotion Division decided that in order to protect Gunma-chan's image there would no longer be any costume rentals allowed.
However, due to this policy change, Gunma-chan now only appears at official PR events designated by the prefecture.
[5] In 2005, it placed first in a national character popularity contest sponsored by the Mainichi Newspaper company, in which it won more than half of the votes.
[5] Gunma-chan themed goods are sold in souvenir shops, convenience stores, and stations around the prefecture.
[15] As 28 October is Gunma Citizens Day, the prefecture releases a notebook that features Gunma-chan on the cover every year.
Gunma-chan was featured on TV Asahi in a program called Sanma no Nan Demo Derby.
A Gunma-chan plushie appeared on the Tokyo MX program called 5 Ji Ni Muchu.
by Karin Takahashi, Aya Uchida and Yui Ogura, while the ending theme is "Happy" by Maria Imamura.