San-X

San-X (サンエックス, Sanekkusu^?) is a Japanese company that specializes in the creation, production and marketing of goods featuring anthropomorphic characters such as Kogepan, Nyan Nyan Nyanko and Afro Ken. Characters usually relate to some aspect of Japanese culture; Tissue-san was a character developed to encourage Japanese schoolchildren to use tissues when they have a cold or flu.

San-X character Yōguru-kun. The Japanese text reads "You like yogurt?"

Each character has their own quirky traits. For example, Momobuta is a pig with a head shaped like a peach, who enjoys karaoke and painting her nails.

History

San-X was founded in April 1932 as a privately-owned business under the name Chida Handler. In October 1942, Chida Handler became a limited company. Chida Handler's name was changed to San-X in May 1973.^[1]

Here is a list of all the San-X characters.

Characters

Animals

• Afro Ken - a dog with an afro^[2]
• Buru Buru Dog - an extremely tiny, constantly trembling and weeping dog^[3]
• Cherry Berry- Two adorable rabbits with cherries and berries.
• Harinezutan - a fashion-conscious hedgehog character, launched in February 2003.^[4]
• Homekoro - a round, brown Pomeranian dog.^[5]
• Jewel Cat - a pretty cat whose eyes are made of jewels and lives in a jewel box^[6]
• Kamonohashikamo - a platypus
• Kyoo Usa - a rabbit
• Kerori - a frog that changes color according to its mood^[7]
• Kutusitanyanko - a black kitten
• Mamegoma - little seals that enjoy eating soybeans^[8]
• Mixed Cats - a group of cats drawn like watercolors originally created for use on stationary^[9][10]
• Momobuta - a pig with a head shaped like a peach, who enjoys karaoke and painting her nails^[11]
• Monokuro Boo - a black pig and a white pig. There is usually a bee buzzing around them, and the phrase "Simple is Best" or "Are you happy?"^[12]
• Nakayoshi Net - a collection of happy animals^[13]
• Nemui Neko - a sleepy cat^[14]
• Nijinomukō - another collection of happy animals, drawn in a more sketchy style^[15]
• Nyan Nyan Nyanko - little cats that transmogrify into, most commonly, food, and school supplies^[16]
• Pinny Mu - a woodland bear^[17]
• Rilakkuma - a brown bear who lives the house of an office lady (OL) named Kaoru^[18]
• Tarepanda (or Tare Panda) - a lazy panda^[19][20]
• Tohoho na Dog - a dog with a tire on his head^[21]
• Wan Wan Wanco - a collection of dogs, real dog photos with drawn backgrounds^[22]

Food

• Amagurichan - a chestnut character.^[23][24]
• Cheese Family - a collection of cheese characters.^[25][26]
• Ginshari-san - a little rice grain who is often found at the bottom of the rice bowl. It is believed that he is always found there, because he doesn't want to be eaten. By hiding in the bottom of the bowl, he gets to take a nap and avoid chopsticks.^[27][28]
• Goringo - a yellow girl apple and a red boy apple^[29]
• Kogepan - a burnt red bean bread bun who lives in a bakery, trying to fit in and make friends with the other bread items. Happiness for him is always short-lived, so he has the tendency to get drunk on milk.^[30]
• Mamepyon - a pea family.^[31]
• Mikanbouya (or Mikan Bouya) - a tangerine who likes candy and dislikes cold weather.^[32][33]
• Yōguru-kun - a yogurt character, launched in May 2003.^[34]
• Soreike Otamachan! - a onion character who is genuine but overly sentimental. ^[35]

Objects

• Tissue-san - a box of facial tissues
• Wanroom - a collection of household items, including a couch, stereo, cactus, etc. They have dog faces.

Spirits

• Atsugari-san - a spirit who hates the cold and loves hot dumplings. He's a faerie who is found at places where the temperature is over 30 degrees Celsius - like tea, hot food and such. He is also called "Hot Head". He operates in groups, and perspires 10 buckets of sweat per day. He's not of danger to mankind - although not of much use either. Atsugari-san is afraid of Samugari-san, who is his exact opposite.^[36]
• Beer-chan- a 20-year-old beer fairy who enjoys beer.^[37]
• Nagomimakuri - a friendly spirit who lives in clear waters and deep in the forest. It resembles a salamander but is still different in some ways. Her main features is her soft form and the way she moves around. It leads a lazy life in the nature and rolls here and there slowly.^[38]
• Sabokappa - a kappa combined with a cactus. The toys come with small scented packets so they can be used as air fresheners.^[39]
• Samugari-san - a spirit who loves the cold and is the antagonist of Atsugari-san. He's a faerie who is found at places where the temperature below zero and stays beside people who tell scary stories or boring jokes. He is also called "Cold Head" and is only seen when captured inside ice cubes. As soon as the ice melts he vanishes. He operates on his own. His weakness is that if his scarf (which is made from his hair) is removed, he'll catch a cold. His favorite food is jelly. Samugari san dislikes Atsugari-san.

References

External links

• San-X Official Website (Japanese)
• San-X lisencing agent with more character profiles
• San-X Translations