A character representing a mythological pond goblin has won an annual poll to decide the most popular local mascot in Japan.

But the contest was dogged by controversy over the voting behavior of employees of a local government.

Local authorities, companies and other entities in Japan create mascots to promote communities and other activities. The characters usually feature cute, yet unsophisticated designs.

The 8th such contest was held at a park in Osaka Prefecture on Sunday. A total of 909 mascots from across the nation competed. People could cast their votes online, or at the venue site.

The winner with nearly 890,000 votes went to the mascot of a cultural and sports promotion organization of Shiki City, Saitama Prefecture.

The green-bodied mascot named Kapal represents a kappa pond goblin that is featured in a local folk tale. Provisional results announced earlier this month showed the Yokkaichi mascot leading the campaign.

But the city was found to have encouraged systematic voting by creating free email addresses that it gave away as encouragement for people to vote for the character.