Memories of a mascot costume part-time job.

Actually, I'm also the type who wants to say, "There's no one inside!!"
I really want to write this story, so if you have any dreams about mascot costumes, you might not want to read this (bitter laugh).

One sweltering day a few years ago.
I went to do a one-off part-time job where I had to get inside a mascot costume.

The location was indoors (inside a gymnasium), and while there was probably some light air conditioning, it was, in any case, incredibly hot.
Two people took turns wearing one costume. We were told they wanted us to be out for as long as possible, but for safety's sake, we were free to decide how to take breaks.

Since I had volunteered to be inside a mascot costume before, I consulted with my partner and insisted (!), "Let's make the maximum time inside the costume 15 minutes! It's dangerous!" So we set a schedule of 15 minutes in the costume, 15 minutes of rest, then switching over for 15 minutes in the costume...

There was a reason for working in pairs; visibility is extremely poor when wearing a mascot costume, which is dangerous. So, when one person was inside, the other acted as an attendant, staying close by to guide them when moving, or hiding the "body" inside if it looked like it might be visible from the outside (!) as part of the job. (Recently, there are high-performance costumes that are full-body suits with fans inside, but the one I wore was an old-fashioned type where you wear the body and attach the head and arms separately, so if you were careless, your neck or arms could sometimes be seen.)

You might experience this if you've done mascot work, but just standing there and becoming popular feels incredibly good (!?)
Sometimes children peek inside, but if you threaten them cutely (!!), they seem to enjoy that too (!?)
I even started strangely researching how to move to look cuter or how to make people happier by watching how others moved.
But when a child who came close started licking the costume, I thought, "What should I do... well, it's not my clothes, so it's fine, but is it okay to lick something like this?"

While I was spending my time like that.
A lady with her grandchild approached me, looking like, "Oh, it's hot, but you're working hard! Thank you for your service!" and started talking like this.

"You know, I had a classmate who used to do mascot work for a long time. She had a dream of building a kindergarten, and she earned the money to build it by working in a mascot costume! So, I know it's hard, but you do your best too!"

I was about to accidentally burst into a flood of tears like Nobita inside the costume.
I didn't have any dreams or anything; I was just in the costume to earn living expenses. But I thought that there really are stories like dreams in this world, and when I realized that the lady was seeing the "person inside" who shouldn't have been visible to her, my heart suddenly felt warm.

Originally, it shouldn't be visible from the outside, and perhaps people outside shouldn't even recognize that "someone is inside."
But the lady crossed that boundary and definitely made contact with "me," the person inside.
I felt like I had experienced something mysterious, a space between reality and dreams.
I felt like I had gained an experience worth more than the hourly wage and the lunch bento.

That said, I haven't had any connection to mascot part-time jobs since then.
I got an offer the following year, but it was so hot and grueling that I turned it down.
I'd like to do it again if there's an opportunity, but I'd prefer an environment that isn't quite so harsh.

I think mascot costumes are the prime example of things that start moving because humans give them life (I guess masks are the same), and I truly find it mysterious because I feel that the movements and even the expressions change depending on the human giving them life.
Everyone, professional baseball mascots are seriously amazing, so I want you to watch them closely... <Is that the punchline of this story, me?

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