CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- This has been a busy year for Kumamon. While continuing his duties as sales manager for Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan's favorite bear-like mascot became the first such character to meet the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and has taken his act overseas, to Taiwan and France.

Kumamon this week made his American debut. JRT caught up with him at Harvard University, where he was joined by his biggest fan and advocate, Governor Ikuo Kabashima of Kumamoto Prefecture.

In a seminar entitled "The Political Economy of Kumamon," Gov. Kabashima faced a packed lecture hall filled with more than 100 undergraduates, graduate students, and professors, and outlined his initiatives to explore new frontiers for Japan's public administration. "After the Lehman Crisis, I realized that we must shift values from economy to overall happiness," Gov. Kabashima said, invoking Kumamon as the key component to achieving happiness for the prefecture from which Kumamon derives his name. Halfway through the seminar, Kumamon swept in and jiggled through his routine, amidst laughter and claps from the audience.

For those who haven't yet caught up with the meteoric rise of Japan's new star: Kumamon was "born" in March, 2010, the lumpy bear-like brainchild of a governor eager to try out creative ways to promote tourism in Kumamoto. After a few redesigns (at first, his soft bodysuit was so frightening that children ran away from his looming black figure), the Kumamon character caught on throughout Japan. That wasn't just his cuteness, but the result of a clever "no-fee" strategy and a simple design. It does not cost money to use his image. A company just has to file for permission. And unlike other mascot characters in Japan, he is not decorated with items proclaiming his allegiance to a prefecture or a company—Kumamon is Kumamon, no strings attached.

Thus, his image can be seen everywhere, on hotel pillows, fake nails, chopping boards, packaging, planes, snacks, and books. According to a recent poll, 90 % of Japanese people say they recognize Kumamon, ranking him amongst such icons as Hello Kitty, or Mickey Mouse.

But success comes with its own risks. In the seminar, Gov. Kabashima said he was worried about oversaturation of the mascot character within Japan. Overseas expansion was the logical next step, hence Kumamon's travels to Taiwan, France, and finally Harvard -- the expansion of what the governor fondly called "Kumamon Universe." Gov. Kabashima told JRT he still has room to grow in the U.S., contrasting Kumamon's modest American reception with the trip to Taiwan, where some fans waited seven hours to take pictures with the mascot.

Harvard was a logical stop for Kumamon's American tour. It's Gov. Kabashima's alma mater, having earned a Ph.D. in political economy and government there in 1979. "I hope that Kumamon helps students consider new possibilities in social and political activities, and risk new frontiers in their lives," the governor said.