Go Tokyo Your Experience
When we hear someone mention a specific university major, various stereotypes may immediately come to mind, including associations with their clothing, appearance, speech, and future career development. So if someone tells you that they are a student of “Economics,” what impression would you have?
Recently, Osaka University in Japan drew some controversy among Japanese netizens by depicting the economics department in a seemingly frivolous manner while designing mascots for various majors. Let’s take a look at all this commotion.
Osaka University recently held a campus open day event. During this event, the crocodile mascot that frequently appeared on the school’s website attracted the attention of Japanese netizens.
Osaka University uses a character named “Dr. Crocodile” (ワニ博士) among the officially recognized mascots.
Dr. Crocodile changed into the uniforms of various departments for promotion on the relevant event websites.
For example, the College of Arts.
Law School
The image of the Medical Department of the Medical School
Dr. Crocodile tried to showcase the characteristics of each department as much as possible, allowing people to easily identify which department they belonged to.
However, the design of the economics department seems somewhat unconventional.
When you see this crocodile doctor representing the economics department, can you immediately associate it with the economics department?
This design quickly sparked heated discussions online. Many Japanese netizens joked that perhaps there are no significant characteristics in the economics department, which is why it was depicted so casually?
However, some people immediately rebutted, believing that this illustration perfectly represents the characteristics of the economics department, as it indeed presents a frivolous and punkish image.
The reactions of Japanese netizens are quite interesting…
At Osaka University, Dr. Crocodile portrayed the characteristics of various departments, and when it got to the Economics department, it turned into a cheeky crocodile, which made me burst out laughing.
Indeed, no matter which university it is, the impression of the Economics department seems to be just like this.
The characteristic of the economics department is being a bit unruly.
As expected, it’s all about ‘unruly economics’ everywhere (laughs).
Wow, this is exactly the economics department!!! It completely aligns with my views.
This outfit really looks like that of a fraudster.
Is the impression of the economics department only superficial…?
It indeed captures the essence.
Aren’t those new startup CEOs that appear in conversations just this kind of feeling?
There really is that kind of suspicious new IT startup boss vibe.
I laughed so hard, whether at a national or private university, students of economics (or business) feel this way haha. Based on my experiences during my studies and feedback from friends, this is indeed the case.
This image perfectly depicts those who claim to be young entrepreneurs, asserting that ‘after graduating, I entered an advertising company, started a business in Shibuya in my twenties, took my company public at thirty, amassed a fortune of 1 billion, and now retire early while managing 20 companies as a part-time consultant providing the most valuable insights.’ Although management and economics are not entirely the same.
It is worth mentioning that many netizens feel that the “crocodile doctor” image in the School of Science is full of prejudice.
Are all the students in the School of Science wearing plaid shirts and super thick glasses?
Does this design match your impression of the economics department?
