Tunku Tunku is a red, heart-shaped spirit living inside a small blue Earth, with two yellow legs sticking out underneath. It is the official mascot of GREEN×EXPO 2027, the International Horticultural Expo that opens in Yokohama on 19 March 2027. The design is by Atsushi Makino, a film director and art director, and the name was chosen from 6,076 public entries, the winning one submitted by Yae Kitahara.
The design was unveiled on 19 March 2024 at a press event held three years before opening. The name followed three months later, on 22 June 2024, at the 1,000-days-to-go press conference. The Expo is organised by the Japan Association for the International Horticultural Expo 2027, Yokohama (the GREEN×EXPO Association), which also manages the rights to the character.
To visit the Expo itself once it opens, you need an admission ticket and a timed-entry reservation. Reservations open on Friday 18 September 2026 on the official ticket site. Ticket types and the booking steps are in our ticket guide, and the dates and how to get there in our GREEN×EXPO 2027 guide.
Announcements about goods, collaborations and events are listed by date in our Tunku Tunku feature. Below are the character itself, the people who made it, the places you can meet it and the rules for using it.
Basic facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Tunku Tunku (Japanese: トゥンクトゥンク) |
| Role | Official mascot of GREEN×EXPO 2027 (International Horticultural Expo 2027) |
| Design | Atsushi Makino (film director, art director), chosen through an invited competition |
| Name | Yae Kitahara, chosen from 6,076 public entries |
| Design announced | 19 March 2024 (three-years-to-go press event) |
| Name announced | 22 June 2024 (1,000-days-to-go press conference, announced by official ambassador Mana Ashida) |
| Personality | Loves things that make the heart race with excitement |
| Special skill | Understands the feelings of all kinds of living things and objects |
| Habit | Tries to break out of the frame and jump out |
| Dream | For everyone’s feelings to connect and for all to get along |
| Tunku Tunku Day | The 19th of every month, from September 2026. The Association posts fan-campaign images and other news on its social media that day |
| Rights | GREEN×EXPO Association. Official licensed goods are handled by the Expo 2027 Master Licensing Office (2027MLO), opened 9 December 2024 |
The personality, skill, habit and dream follow the Association’s official mascot page.
The idea behind the look (designer Atsushi Makino)
In its announcement of 19 March 2024, the Association describes the character as a communicator that builds a new relationship between people, nature and the Earth. Nature cannot speak for itself, so the character takes on the job of passing its feelings on to us.
The same announcement explains the shape. The core is a heart so that the feelings of nature come across clearly. The character is the Earth itself, filled with countless lives. In the basic design, flowers and leaves grow inside the globe, and the heart smiles and waves in the middle of them.
The design was chosen through an invited competition. Makino appeared at the press event together with Chie Morimoto, vice-chair of the selection committee. The Association describes Makino only as a film director and art director, so we do not add more about his career here.
How the name was chosen (Yae Kitahara)
The name contest opened on the same day the design was unveiled. Entries were accepted from 3 pm on 19 March 2024 until noon on 8 April through a dedicated website, with a prize of 300,000 yen for the winning entry. In total, 6,076 names were submitted.
The name was announced on 22 June 2024 at the 1,000-days-to-go press conference. Official ambassador Mana Ashida read it out, and Kitahara joined her on stage. Tunku Tunku spoke for the first time that day and exchanged a few words with Ashida. The Association has not said who provides the voice.
Kitahara explained that “tunku” is the sound of a heartbeat. You only hear a heartbeat when you put your ear to someone’s chest, so the name carries a wish that people will listen to the voice of the Earth. She added the hope that everyone will join hands and that every living thing will feel its heart flutter.
The selection committee said it chose the name because it conveys the excitement of touching the feelings of nature and of people and nature connecting. The Association’s official page explains the name as representing people and all forms of life resonating and being connected.
The story: from space, with a small Earth as a gift
The Association’s mascot page tells the character’s story in the form of a picture book. In short:
- Tunku Tunku is a curious spirit that came from far away in space, drawn to the beauty of Earth.
- Among the spirits huddled together, Tunku Tunku’s excitement was bigger than anyone’s, and one day it popped out of the group.
- Its friends imagined a beautiful planet, made a small Earth and gave it to Tunku Tunku as a home. That is the blue globe.
- On Earth it found more living things than it could have imagined, countless lives connected and shining, and learned that those connections are now breaking.
- Feeling that everyone born on the same planet shares the same heart even without sharing a language, it decided to help everyone on Earth get along again.
The habit of “trying to break out of the frame” comes from the scene where it pops out of the group. The storybook was produced by the design studio goen°, headed by Chie Morimoto, with Makino credited for the character design.
Where to meet it, and official things to try
A costumed Tunku Tunku appears at events run by the Association and local governments. Dates are posted on the Association’s social media and news pages, and you can follow them under the “events” filter of our Tunku Tunku feature. Some official things you can enjoy without going anywhere:
| What | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Talk to Tunku Tunku | On a dedicated Association website, press the button and speak within five seconds, and Tunku Tunku answers by voice (Japanese) | Linked from the Association’s mascot page |
| Kids’ map “Find Tunku Tunku” | A picture-search game with Tunku Tunku hidden in a map of the venue, with an answer sheet | Association mascot page |
| Origami Tunku Tunku | Kanagawa Prefecture published four folding videos and a diagram, based on a design by a fan from Yokohama | Kanagawa Prefecture page (Japanese) |
| A plush toy in space | A Tunku Tunku plush toy travelled to the International Space Station with “Kibo seeds” (sunflower, marigold, stock and broccoli) on JAXA’s HTV-X1, launched 26 October 2025. Return was planned for spring 2026, with the seeds and plush toy to be displayed at the venue | Association notice, 7 November 2025 |
| Manhole covers | Donated by the Yokohama Construction Industry Association and installed in Asahi and Seya wards, the host area. The city presented a letter of appreciation on 24 March 2025 | City of Yokohama press release |
| Wrapped vending machine | Installed in July 2025 on the outbound platform of Mitsukyo Station on the Sotetsu Main Line, the first at a railway station | SOTETSU PARK article |
| Tokyo Skytree lighting | Special lighting in Tunku Tunku’s four colours on 15 September 2026, 9 December 2026 and opening day | News |
The plush toy and seeds were shown for the first time from the Kibo module by JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui during “The Space Sunrise Live 2026”, a New Year’s Eve broadcast that started at 11 pm on 31 December 2025 (hosted by Bascule’s KIBO Space Broadcasting Station, co-hosted by the City of Yokohama and the Association; the seeds were provided by Sakata Seed). Return to Earth was planned for around spring 2026, but as of 17 September 2026 the Association’s news pages carry no follow-up confirming it. We will add it when we find one.
At the six-months-to-go press conference on 15 September 2026, Myaku-Myaku of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Morizo and Kiccoro of Expo 2005 Aichi and Hanazukin-chan of the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka joined Tunku Tunku for the photo session (Association release of 16 September). At the same event the Association announced that the 19th of every month is now Tunku Tunku Day. From September it uses the day to post images sent in to its Tunku Tunku fan campaign and other pre-opening news on its social media, and it plans to continue through the Expo. The first one falls on 19 September 2026, the day after timed-entry reservations open.
Goods and collaborations
Official licensed goods are planned and managed by 2027MLO. The plush toy, described as the most requested item, went on sale on 28 January 2026 at 4,290 yen including tax, about 13 cm tall. It is sold at the official online store and at the pop-up store in Yamashita Park, Yokohama (until 31 May 2027).
The first collaboration with another character was with Myaku-Myaku of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai in September 2025. It sold out quickly and was restocked in March 2026. Since then there have been shoes with Mizuno and Myaku-Myaku (August 2026), goods with Yokohama’s flower-and-greenery character Garden Bear (September 2026) and Moomin (on sale from January 2027). Tunku Tunku also appears on the face of a commemorative 1,000-yen silver coin issued by Japan’s Ministry of Finance. Dates and prices are in these news items:
- Myaku-Myaku collaboration restock (March 2026)
- Mizuno × Myaku-Myaku × Tunku Tunku shoes (August 2026)
- Pop-up store in Yamashita Park (from September 2026)
- Garden Bear collaboration (September 2026)
- Moomin collaboration (from January 2027)
- Commemorative 1,000-yen silver coin (applications from 2 December 2026)
Kanagawa Prefecture’s pavilion has its own mascots, the leaf characters VIBRANTs and the flying squirrel Momone. They belong to the prefecture, not to the Expo, so we treat them separately (news on the Kanagawa pavilion mascots).
What you may do with the character
The Association does not provide images, and images and documents on its website may not be reproduced. On this site we only use images the Association distributed through PR TIMES press releases.
Fan art you draw or make yourself is allowed within the fan-art guidelines that took effect on 9 July 2025. Individuals may post non-commercial works on social media or personal blogs, noting that they are fan works. Selling them as products, using them in advertising, distributing them even for free, passing off someone else’s work as your own, and uses against public order are prohibited. The same rules apply to three-dimensional works such as origami. The guidelines applied situation by situation are in our fan-art rules article.
Our take
With Expo mascots, people usually decide whether they like the look before they hear the explanation. With Tunku Tunku, once you know the heart is a spirit and the blue globe is a home it was given, the flowers blooming inside the globe make sense. Read the story first and the waving pose at a meet-and-greet starts to look like the scene where it pops out of the crowd. If you are going with children, open the Association’s picture-book page together before the visit.