Beard Papa
“Beard Papa” is the mascot of a popular “shucreme” confection. Shucreme is a custard, or sometimes whipped cream-filled cream puff. There are different types, some cold, some room temperature, some hot. I use Beard Papa, Santa Claus, and Col. Harland Sanders to teach the word “beard” to Japanese teenagers - images they already know and can remember.
Some Japanese men have facial hair, but it's not a popular look. Although there have been historical periods of more hairiness in the past, modern Japanese culture tends to think facial hair is dirty. They tend not to see any difference between types of facial hair. If a foreigner sports a goatee, for example, Japanese are likely to say he looks like Santa, even though Santa has a completely different beard type. It looks the same to them.
To teach the word “mustache,” I could use former Emperor Hirohito, who had a mustache. But many of today's Japanese high schoolers are too young to know who Hirohito was. Instead, I use the ¥1,000 note, featuring early 20th century scientist Hideo Noguchi, who had a mustache. It’s something they see every day, carry in their pockets and wallets, and handle regularly.