The Social Security and Tax Number System (My Number System) has a mascot character whose public naming contest I previously announced. Its name was revealed on Friday the 29th[1].
“Maina-chan”
The public contest was held from Friday, June 20, through Monday, July 21. From among the 723 proposals submitted, it was selected because “the name readily evokes My Number and expresses the approachable nature of the rabbit logo”[2]. Because multiple people submitted the name, the award recipient will reportedly be selected through a strict lottery and contacted later.
My Number is a system that assigns each person a number that will, in principle, remain unchanged throughout their life. It aims to make pension and tax administration more efficient and accurate and to simplify procedures. It is expected to prevent problems such as the “missing pension records” scandal. Cards will begin to be distributed in the latter half of 2015, and use will begin on January 2016. Salaried employees will be required to report their own My Number and those of their family members to their employer, so the system will affect nearly everyone. Maina-chan is expected to play an active role in helping the public learn about the system. It would be amazing if the character became as popular as Funassyi!
[1] Cabinet Secretariat, “Nickname Chosen for the My Number Public-Relations Logo”http://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/bangoseido/logo/aisyou.html
[2] Another important consideration was apparently that the name did not infringe any existing trademarks. Many rabbit-related trademarks had already been registered, which reportedly made the task difficult. Pokémon’s “Minun®,” for example…. (It is remarkable how rabbit-like this one looks.) Thank you for your hard work!
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