Japan’s character craze is reaching new heights.

A birthday party for Kumamon — the character of Kumamoto prefecture — attracted fans from all over the country.

Kumamon turned three on Wednesday. To celebrate, the prefecture had a million-dollar gold statue built for him.

But Kumamon wasn’t resting on his birthday. He marched in a parade, and even sang two songs from his forthcoming CD.

The cuddly bear Kumamon was voted Japan’s most popular mascot in 2011.

Since that year over 100-billion yen — that’s about a billion dollars — of Kumamon merchandise has been snapped up by consumers.