Visiting Japan’s muscular mascot character dog at his free museum near Kansai International Airport

There’s a manga-related reason Inunakin is so buff. A lot of towns in Japan have official mascot characters, so it’s no surprise that the city of Izumosano in Osaka Prefecture has one too. Also not a

There’s a manga-related reason Inunakin is so buff.

A lot of towns in Japan have official mascot characters, so it’s no surprise that the city of Izumosano in Osaka Prefecture has one too. Also not a shock is that Izumosano’s mascot is an anthropomorphized animal, in this case a dog named Inunakin.

What is startling, though, is that Inunakin is ripped.

Our introduction to this muscular mascot came as we were passing through Izumisano’s Riku Town Station, which is just one train stop away from Kansai International Airport. Spotting signage for Inunakin House, touted as the “official museum” for the character, we followed the arrows until we arrived at the entrance.

Admission to Inunakin House is free, so we sauntered right on in…

…where an extremely detailed life-size statue of Inunakin was waiting!

Inunakin wasn’t alone, though, and the pals he was posing with shine some light on how he got his physique.

Flanking Inunakin were full-scale statues of Kinnikuman, star of the Kinnikuman/Muscle pro-wrestling anime/manga franchise, and fellow Kinnikuman character Ramenman.

Inunakin was actually designed by Taskashi Shimada and Yoshinori Nakai, the manga artist duo collectively known as Yudetamago, who also created Kinnikuman. With the wrestling saga having been beloved in Japan for decades, naturally Yudetamago was going to use similar aesthetics when designing Izumisano’s mascot, leading to Inunakin’s Kinnikuman-caliber musculature.

▼ Inunakin’s abs are apparently so rock-hard that he doesn’t need any protective covering for his abdomen.

In addition to the statues, Inunakin House also has a selection of character merch on offer…

…a free reading section with shelves stocked with Kinnikuman manga…

…and even a retro-style tatami reed floor room with a heated kotatsu table to relax in (not something we need right now, but nice to have later in the year when the weather gets colder).

So while it might not be a build-your-itinerary-around-it attraction on the order of Ghibli Park or Universal Studios Japan, Inunakin House is a cool and quirky spot to visit if you’ve got some extra time in your schedule while coming from or going to Kansai International Airport.

Location information Inunakin House / イヌナキンハウス Address: Osaka-fu, Izumisano-shi, Rinku Orai Kita 1 大阪府泉佐野市りんくう往来北1 Open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays (or, if Monday or Tuesday is a national holiday, closed the following day) Website