The annual "Trend Santa" display at Uroko House, photographed on the morning of November 19 in Chuo Ward, Kobe. (©Sankei by Miyako Nagumo)
At the Uroko Museum of Art, the annual "Trend Santa" display has returned for the holiday season. The building, commonly known as Uroko House, is a former Western-style residence in Kobe's Kitano district.
Historic Landmark
Built in 1905 as a luxury rental for foreign residents, it became Kobe's first publicly accessible ijinkan, or Western-style home built for foreign settlers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Its name, "Uroko" comes from the natural slate tiles that cover the exterior in an overlapping pattern that resembles fish scales.
This Year's Santa
The three-meter-tall foam Santa is dressed as MYAKU-MYAKU, the mascot of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Around it are figures that offer a look at the year's major news and trends. The 2025 lineup includes Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, who helped secure a World Series title.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is also featured, and Shinjiro Koizumi is depicted carrying a bale of rice as a nod to his role as agriculture minister during a year of soaring rice prices. The display runs through December 25.
The "Trend Santa" project began in 2009 and is now in its seventeenth year. Last year's edition paid tribute to Ohtani's achievement of fifty home runs and fifty stolen bases.
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(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: The Sankei Shimbun
