Have you met Buinyasu and Yaminyasu before? They are a pair of adorable cat mascots who have snatched the hearts of Visual Kei fans and musicians in the scene. With several music covers and appearances at concerts and events, these cats are exponentially becoming more popular on social networks such as Twitter!
Japan is famous for its culture of cuteness (also known as kawaii) and the yuru-chara (mascot characters) are an important part of it. To be honest, mascots are a big thing in Japan. Many municipalities all over Japan have their own, but also several companies and sports teams. Even T.M. Revolution has its own mascot, named Turbo-kun.
The costume design of the mascots are based on what suits the organisations, a local product or recognisable building, or even a wild animal, but can also be a mix of all this. Some big-headed mascots look not that conventional and can be seen as silly, but most are seen as cute and fun by the people. Such mascots are good for the promotion of tourism. Think of Kumamon for Kumamoto Prefecture and Funassyi who is unofficially representing the city of Funabashi, Chiba. Buinyasu (ぶいにゃす) is a white cat yuru-chara that jumped into social media professing its love to Visual Kei in May 2019.
The cat, that we can dub as an influencer by now as Buinyasu has gotten already over 10K followers on Twitter, got recognition for its great covers from established artists like X JAPAN, the GazettE, L’Arc~en~Ciel, DIR EN GREY, and LUNA SEA; but also songs from rising stars like Shintenshi Kaibyakushudan ZIGZAG or non-Visual Kei artists such as SixTONES. Buinyasu has shown to be proficient at guitar, bass, drums, and piano. To the surprise of many, the charming mascot has been even featured on stage with the bands D and DOG in the PWO.
In addition to the many snaps with popular musicians like ASAGI (D), Miku (An Cafe/Lc5), and YUKKE (MUCC) -to name a few- Buinyasu’s feed is full of clips visiting venues or shops, reading music magazines, and doing other kinds of funny activities. Furthermore, this cute yuru-chara often highlights classic Japanese rock CDs from its large collection along with new arrivals.
But the white cat is not alone in this journey. Yaminyasu (やみにゃす), Buinyasu’s lovely buddy, was introduced in February 2020. Both cats can be frequently seen playing together and goofing around. While Buinyasu is a multi-instrumentalist, the black cat seems to be more fond of playing the drums or appearing as an actor in the music covers.
Buinyasu and Yaminyasu are melting plenty of hearts in the underground Visual Kei scene of Japan. Follow them on social media to enjoy their great covers, laugh with their silly games or see them posing next to your favourite musician. In the case of promoting Visual Kei, the conclusion at this moment is that they are doing quite well.
