Mascots have long been used to front brands in Japan, but Gudetama – a lazy anthropomorphic egg – is a far cry from the cutesy characters typically seen. It now appears on around 1,700 items, boasting its own Twitter feed and pop-up cafés, but how has it won the hearts of people nationwide?

After receiving massive support last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe seems to be losing the public’s backing over his economic policies – despite the fact that it remains to be seen whether ‘Abenomics’ will be able to get the country out of its 20-year fight against deflation.

Japanese Gen Yers are often called the ‘enlightened generation’. Yet while they’re more self-aware and less materialistic than their parents, they’re also more risk-averse. Can theTobitate! Young Ambassador Programme convince them to leave the comfort of home and study abroad?

‘I’m glad to be Japanese!’ It’s a thought that two-thirds of Japanese people have had. But with nationalism’s long, sordid history in the country, some debate whether it can be taken too far. With a recent spike in patriotism in Japan's popular culture, how is it translating to the rest of the world?