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Watch Japanology Plus Season 2 Episode 51 online — it may be available on legal streaming platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and others.

With cute characters representing everything from electronics stores to local municipalities to police departments, anthropomorphism is everywhere you look in Japan. A recent edition of Japanology Plus took a look at some of the country's most eye-catching 2D characters, but the question remained—what are the origins of Japan's love affair with anthropomorphism? Once again, host Peter Barakan is joined by Sadashige Aoki, an expert on all things anthropomorphic, for a wide-ranging discussion on where this trend comes from and where it goes from here.