PONOSA | Official mascot of Hokkaido University Recruiting Office
Ponosa's greeting
Hello everyone! I'm Ponosa!
I'm the cheerful and curious official mascot of the Hokkaido University International Student Recruitment Team, and I'm doing my very best every single day to spread smiles and excitement!
Guess what? I'm also a graduate student at Hokkaido University!
(*Technically, I'm enrolled as an international student... because I came from a different era!)
I traveled all the way from the Late Cretaceous period to this amazing modern time, and wow! Everything is so different and dazzling!
The moment I saw the beautiful campus and felt the buzz of this era, I was totally enchanted!
So, I studied super hard, and became a proud graduate student at Hokkaido University! Yay!
Now, I want to share all the wonderful things about Hokkaido University with everyone - humans and dinosaurs alike!
My dream is to become the official mascot of Hokkaido University someday..........
What's the story behind the name Ponosa?
Ooh, what a dino-mite question! I got so excited I almost did a happy tail wiggle!
A long, long time ago in the Late Cretaceous period, I didn't have a name at all - just a dinosaur living my best life!
Then, in 1934, Professor Takumi Nagao from Hokkaido Imperial University discovered my fossils and gave me a very special name: Nipponosaurus.
Now that I’ve made my home at Hokkaido University, I’ve given that name a little twist and decided to go by Ponosa!
Like this!
Nipponosaurus
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Nip ponosa urus
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Ponosa!!!
We asked Ponosa many questions - our curiosity went full dino-mode!
While we were chatting with Ponosa, Ponosa got so excited Ponosa just couldn't stop talking!
So we gathered all of Ponosa's fun and thoughtful answers and put them together here, just for you~!
| Age | Ponosa told us Ponosa is 23 years old, but we think Ponosa might actually be around 80 million years old...
When we mentioned that, Ponosa kicked their legs in protest. "I'm 23~~~!" Ponosa insisted. |
| Birthday | August 14th.
It just so happens to be on the same day Hokkaido University was founded. What a coincidence! |
| Height & Weight | Ponosa says Ponosa is about as tall as five snowmen stacked on top of each other, and weighs about the same as three snowmen. |
| Personality | - Curious and quick-witted - Loves eating and chatting with people - very sociable - Tends to get involved in everything, which sometimes slows them down a bit That’s what Ponosa told us! |
| Treasure | Ponosa absolutely loves their trademark hat shaped like Hokkaido! |
| Special Skills | Ponosa is great at languages and hopes to talk with all the international students who come to Hokkaido University.
Ponosa wants everyone to feel welcome! |
| Favorite Food | Ponosa loves all kinds of Hokkaido food,
but if they had to choose... Ponosa would say ginkgo nuts, Sapporo Agricultural College milk cookies, and the Hokkaido University milk ice cream Ponosa had the other day - it was delicious! |
| Hobbies | Ever since Ponosa saw the reconstructed skeleton of a Nipponosaurus at the Hokkaido University Museum, Ponosa has loved visiting museums.
Ponosa also enjoys peaceful forest walks and forest bathing around campus. |
| Current Worries | Ponosa shared a couple of things Ponosa is struggling with:
- Can’t cut their toenails by themselves
Awwww we really want to help Ponosa out! |