Ardi and Miya
Ardija is the Spanish word for "squirrel. The tree squirrel was the official animal of Omiya city, and though Omiya has since merged with its neighbour, Urawa, to form Saitama City, the squirrel motif lives on in the name and mascot of Omiya Ardija. According to the team website, the name "Ardi" was also chosen for the mascot because of its silimarity to the word "ardent". This is supposed to indicate the character of the team's supporters. I suppose when you share a city with the Urawa Reds, your supporters would have to be pretty ardent.
Ardi's girlfriend "Miya-chan" joined the show in 2008, following the trend of giving the girls a role-model mascot as well. Oh! Miya!
Omiya Ardija -- Team Uniforms (1998-present)
Click on the small pictures to see a larger-size image
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