After talking about an Italian plumber and a cute little cat, today we will speak about another Japanese cartoon hero, a symbol for an entire franchise and one of the most important and famous drawn and animated characters there is worldwide: Pikachu (ピカチュ).

Pikachu is a Pokémon, a fictional creature that appear in a variety of video games, animated television shows and movies, trading card games, and comic books licensed by a Japanese corporation. 

The Pikachu design was conceived by Atsuka Nishida and finalized by Ken Sugimori. 

Pikachu is 40cm tall and an electric type Pokémon, which means that it’s effective against water-type Pokémon. It resembles a mouse and its main color scheme is yellow. It has black-tipped, pointed ears and red circular pouches on its cheeks, which can spark with electricity.
Pikachu first appeared in Pokémon red and green, games for the original Nintendo Gameboy that were hugely successful worldwide. 

Pikachu is one of the most well-known Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character in the Pokémon anime series. Pikachu is regarded as a major character of the whole Pokémon franchise as well as its mascot, and has become an icon of Japanese pop culture in recent years.
You can see pikachu basically everywhere you go in Japan as it is used as Nintendo’s mascot since the 90s, keep an eye open and you will be surprised how many you can spot in the most funny placements.