If you’ve been to Japan or live here, chances are you’ve seen the iconic character known as tobidashi bōya. But did you know the cute character has a somewhat dark history? Here’s how tobidashi boya came about, along with a selection of some of the best variations across the country as collected by a photographer recently on social media.
Born from Japan’s traffic wars
The iconic figures date back to Japan’s so-called “traffic war.” Spanning the Shōwa 30 decade (1955-1964), the era saw more people die due to traffic fatalities than in two years of the Russo-Japanese War.
The cause? The country’s immature driving infrastructure. Japan had begun ramping up investments in car-ready roads and highways during the Taishō and Shōwa eras. However, it abandoned much of this work as the country drove deeper into World War II.
As the country’s economy recovered and boomed after the war, it built a flurry of roads. It did so with little consideration for pedestrian safety.
When cars exploded in numbers, so did the death count. There were 12,504 vehicle-related accidents in 1946 and 4,409 deaths. By 1959, the death count crossed 10,000 a year. That’s when the phrase “traffic war” (交通戦争; kōtsū sensō) entered the public lexicon.
Responding to public outcry, the Japanese government undertook a number of measures to reform the country’s roads. This was when the tobidashi bōya arrived on the scene to warn people they were driving on roads where kids frequently crossed and might suddenly appear (飛び出す; tobidasu).
While the safety cut-outs can be seen from the Tōhoku region down to Kyūshū, they’re most often found in the Kansai region. Shiga Prefecture’s Higashiōmi is reportedly the birthplace of the character that’s become known as Tobita-kun, and has the largest concentration of tobidashi bōya of anywhere in Japan.
A cavalcade of tobidashi bōya sightings
To this day, people love posting tobidashi bōya pictures online. Recently, one popular photography account on X, toshibo, called for people to post their favorite tobidashi bōya sightings. Toshibo, who has 350K followers, specializes in photos of abandoned buildings. (He also has a substantial following on Instagram.)
The thread received over 100,000 likes and over 2,000 replies, with people posting their snaps of tobidashi bōya and tobidashi musume from across the country.
As time has gone on, people have used variations on Tobita-kun. One of the most popular is this cutout of Giorno Giovanna, one of the protagonists from the popular manga and anime JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. “Number 1 in accident prevention,” the poster wrote.
That’s not the only anime-related sighting. Another user posted pics of figures featuring characters from the latest Gundam installment, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.
And yes, someone did a Hatsune Miku version. Because of course they did.
Another user posted an…interesting variation from Gifu Prefecture’s Gujō city: A rendition of the lad “stark naked” except for shoes.
Others shared variations that were more artistic or had been beaten down by the wrath of time. For example, there’s this one in Higashiōmi that looks like it’s survived a bomb blast. (“I like this, I can feel the speed rush,” one user responded.)
You can peruse the rest of the thread for more great sightings across the country. If you live here or are visiting soon, keep an eye out for the iconic character as you go about your business.
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Sources
Tobidashi Bōya. Wikipedia (EN/JP versions)
交通戦争. Wikipedia JP
とび太くん誕生秘話. mahorova
