Aichi Says Ouch! Roos Key To Oral Health

Kangaroos are key to oral health in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi.

The Aichi Dental Association uses kangaroos as its mascots, focusing on the close relationship between generations symbolized by joeys in a pouch to encourage dental care from infancy through to old age.

The ADA chose the character following a competition among students from HAL Nagoya vocational school in 2023.

Competition winner Yuma Furuta made three kangaroo characters to represent the ADA. Aishii, the jill, is named through an anagram of Aichi and shika (the Japanese word for dentist). Boomer Ken is meant to symbolize kenko, the Japanese words for oral health. Their joey, Smile, has a self-explanatory name. Furuta’s concept was to create a healthily smiling Aichi Prefecture.

He chose kangaroos because of the immediate connection connotated between generations.

Furuta also reckons the marsupial’s shape resembles the map of the prefecture, but I think he’s probably pushing it a bit in that regard.

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