I used the kanji characters partially because I saw the "small bear" characters used on this. I assumed, very possibly erroneously, that whomever designed the shirt had enough command of the language to know factually that it was the more common/accepted way to write "Cubs" in Japanese. I also used the kanji because my command of the language is limited to a few common words and what my preferred online kanji dictionary can tell me; otherwise I can't speak, write or translate the language to save my life. :-#