Category Archives: Plushies

I love Rilakkuma plushies!

Taurus Rilakkuma Plushie!

First up from the 10th Anniversary Zodiac Rilakkuma order is Taurus Rilakkuma!

Taurus (♉) is symbolized by the bull: in Greek mythology, Taurus is connected to Zeus, who disguised himself as a white bull to abduct the Phoenician princess Europa (how rude).

Today, Taurus Rilakkuma is dressed like a little Holstein bull with a bright red collar!

Taurus Rilakkuma - full body shot

Taurus is my sign!

Taurus RIlakkuma - back shot

He has star-shaped spots!

Taurus Rilakkuma - head close-up

I love his little cow ears!

San-X actually released Rilakkuma (and Korilakkuma) in a full cow suit back in 2008. Seems like Rilakkuma appears in a cow outfit every 5 years!

How to order internationally from the San-X Net Shop using Tenso!

San-X Net Shop - Box

Buy directly from the official San-X Net Shop!

First off, the San-X Net Shop is a great way to access Rilakkuma products if you don’t live in Japan. They have hundreds of Rilakkuma items in stock, and they also run a pretty fun blog with additional product photos. They generally don’t stock the store/event exclusives, but they do have cool Net Shop exclusives from time to time (like Mushroom Rilakkuma/Squirrel Korilakkuma), and a ton of housewares. Importantly, items are released on the same day as Japanese Rilakkuma Store releases (stores outside of Japan will generally have a delay).

The San-X Net Shop, operated by emix, does not ship internationally, but they do work closely with Tenso, an international shipping service. You can even see a little Tenso ad at the bottom of the San-X Net Shop home page! There are a few other international forwarding services like it, but I trust Tenso because it is recommended by the San-X Net Shop.

As for cost, in addition to the cost of the plushies/purchases:

  1. San-X will charge a flat 500 yen local shipping fee (~5.53 USD), shipping (with tracking) took ~3 days for me
  2. Tenso will charge a 490 yen service fee (~5.42 USD)
  3. Tenso will charge an EMS delivery fee (depending on weight) – I paid 2220 yen shipping (~24.54 USD) for 5 plushies, and shipping (with tracking) was super fast, ~4 days (I live in Florida)
  4. Your credit card company MAY charge a international service fee (check your credit card policy – some do not add this charge, like travel rewards cards)

In this partnership, Tenso has come out with a short guide (in English) on to how to order from the San-X Net Shop using their service. It’s great and succinct, but I’ll expand on a few points after the jump:

Continue reading →

Arrival of 10th Anniversary Zodiac Series Rilakkuma Plushies!

Exciting news!

My 10th Anniversary Zodiac Series Rilakkumas came in today!

This was also my first time ordering from the San-X Net Shop. Even though Net Shop is almost entirely in Japanese, the whole process was surprisingly fast and easy – even for someone completely illiterate in Japanese like me.

Zodiac Rilakkuma arrival - box

My first San-X box, too!

Zodiac Rilakkuma arrival - open box

Who’s inside?

Zodiac Rilakkuma arrival - all

From left to right: Gemini, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Taurus, & Cancer

Although images of this series have been out for months (one of my earliest blog posts, actually!), they were officially released just last week (1/19)!

This zodiac/astrology series is 12 plushies strong, and commemorates Rilakkuma’s 10 year anniversary! I only ordered 5 because I’m not made of money, but maybe I’ll collect the full set one day. Wow, San-X is sure doing it big this year for Rilakkuma’s 10th birthday!

Stay tuned for individual posts (and close-up photos) on each of them later this week!

ETA: If you’re curious about how to buy from Tenso, I wrote a guide!

Mikan Rilakkuma UFO Catcher Plushie!

Last but not least from the big UFO catcher batch: Mikan Rilakkuma! He was released into the UFO catcher wild by Fansclub and San-X in December 2011.

Mikan (Citrus unshiu) are citrus fruits of Japanese origin, and are also known as satsuma mandarins or satsuma oranges. We actually have a tree full of these out in our yard – yum!

Mikan Rilakkuma - full body shot

Hello Mikan Rilakkuma!

Mikan Rilakkuma - hat detail

Cute citrus hat!

Mikan Rilakkuma - scarf

Lovely scarf with fuzzy citrus details on both ends!

Because of Chinese tradition and symbolism (and some clever wordplay), my family loves to display and serve oranges to ring in the new year since our word for “fortune/success” sounds similar to the word for “orange”.

This Rilakkuma will also help us welcome the lunar new year next month as well – how auspicious for this Rilakkuma to join the family at the start of 2013!

February Rilakkuma Store Exclusives!

OMG! To celebrate the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store’s 4th anniversary, San-X is releasing these cute new Tokyo Station-exclusive fruit dessert Rilakkuma plushies!

They’ll only be sold at a special birthday event at the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store this February.

Tokyo Station 4th Anniversary Series - announcement

Fruit shorts!

They look so snug and yummy!

But that’s not all!

In addition to the previously announced Aloha Rilakkuma series, Rilakkuma Stores all over Japan will also be stocking these special, Rilakkuma store-exclusive Aloha Rilakkuma series plushies next month as well! (Maybe some will end up at the San-X Net Shop, too?)

Aloha Rilakkuma Store Exclusive - announcement

I want a pair of Rilakkuma-shaped sunglasses too!

Wah, so many new releases!

Can’t decide if I’ll order any of these for sure since San-X releases these new series faster than my wallet grows, but we’ll see!

Outdoors Rilakkuma UFO Catcher Plushie!

While the last UFO plushies were gifts, I got this one for myself: it’s Rilakkuma holding a kabob! He was part of an outdoors series (アウトドアごっこ) released by Fansclub and San-X in July 2011.

Kabob Rilakkuma - full body shot

Ready to go camping!

Kabob Rilakkuma - kabob detail

Rilakkuma has cooked a yummy kabob! And he’s wearing a nice yellow bib in case he makes a mess.

Seeing this plushie on Fansclub was actually what prompted me to make my first big Rilakkuma UFO catcher plushie purchase earlier – San-X hasn’t released anything like this design in their standard 22 cm collectible size (the style I usually order), so that convinced me to make the leap!

I’m so glad I did, because he is a wonderful addition to my largely food-themed Rilakkuma collection. Yay!

Yukata Rilakkuma & Korilakkuma UFO Catcher Plushies!

My first UFO catcher plushie purchase!

It’s Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma wearing yukata! This series was released by Fansclub & San-X in June 2011.

Yukata are a kind of casual kimono worn during hot seasons – so Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma are perfectly dressed for a nice summer’s day!

Yukata Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma - full body shot

What a beautiful color scheme!

Yukata Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma - fan detail

Matching fans!

Yukata Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma - back

Obis tied into bows in the back!

As Fansclub UFO catcher plushies, they are constructed a little differently than the non-UFO catcher ones, notably in the materials, seaming, and size (they’re a few cm smaller).

I gave this cute pair to my parents for their wedding anniversary last week! So cute! They remind me of my parents hahaha.

Sapporo 1st Anniversary Rilakkuma!

I guess the holiday season means getting through my wishlist!

Simon bought me a new addition to my poncho-riffic Rilakkuma collection: Sapporo 1st Anniversary Rilakkuma!

This plushie was released as a Sapporo Rilakkuma store exclusive to celebrate the branch’s 1 year anniversary – congrats to them!

Sapporo 1st Anniversary Rilakkuma - full body shot

Welcome to the family!

Sapporo 1st Anniversary Rilakkuma - back view

Happy birthday celebration message on the back!

Sapporo 1st Anniversary Rilakkuma - front hood detail

Love the mint leaf detail and fuzzy trim!

Ever since his release in September, I’ve always had my eye on him: he was actually the first plushie on my wishlist! I hope they make more ice cream Rilakkumas in the years to come.

On an unrelated note: I’ve created a twitter account that will post updates on this WP blog and the tumblr, in addition to random Rilakkuma links and updates. Follow me @KumaLifestyle! Apparently @RilakkumaLifestyle is 2 too many characters lol.

Anyway, now that family is coming in for the holidays, I’ll probably take a bit of a hiatus to spend time with them. Happy holidays!

Year of the Snake 2013 Kiiroitori & Sabokappa?

Last Friday, Year of the Snake 2013 Series Kiiroitori was leading in sales at the San-X net shop!

Year of the Snake 2013 - Kiiroitori ranked

A pretty round snake, imo.

However! As of last night, Snake Korilakkuma has jumped two spots and is now at #1! Whoa! I always expected Rilakkuma to be the bestseller, but then again, I guess I do see the world with Rilakkuma goggles haha.

Anyway, I think this Snake Kiiroitori kind of looks like another San-X character, Sabokappa (サボカッパ) though:

Sabokappa - plushie

Similar beak, color, pose, and position!

Also known as Kappa Cactus, Sabokappa was released in September 2008. A lot of San-X characters are directly inspired by Japanese folklore; in this case, Sabokappa is a kappa, a legendary water entity, who’s just disguised as a cactus. Sabokappa lives in a flower shop with other real cacti.

Sabokappa - friends

Sabokappa and cactus pals! Also, Sabokappa doing random things on the bottom row.

True to kappa legend, Sabokappa creates a lot of mischief, and loves water and cucumbers. I’m not really sure how cucumbers became so prominent in kappa legend, but some folk legends say that offering a cucumber to a kappa will prevent it from kidnapping/eating your children – yikes! There’s even a popular sushi roll called kappamaki that just has cucumber inside haha.

I think it’s so cool that San-X references and reimagines old folklore stories into new kawaii characters!

Mushroom Rilakkuma & Squirrel Korilakkuma!

New arrivals: Mushroom Rilakkuma and Squirrel Korilakkuma! This set was a San-X Net Shop exclusive from October-November 2010, as a special release from the Forest Series.

Mushroom Rilakkuma - front view

Hello Mushroom Rilakkuma!

Mushroom Rilakkuma - side view

I think Simon’s planning on planting him a flowerpot haha.

One of my favorite aspects of this release is that the San-X Net Shop manager came out with a series of really silly blog posts/photos featuring the Mushroom Rilakkuma: waiting for the elevator, appearing from behind a table, chilling on a staircase, and being used as an arm rest. I guess the San-X employees love him a lot too!

Squirrel Korilakkuma - front view

Hello Squirrel Korilakkuma!

Squirrel Korilakkuma - side view

These photos doesn’t do her justice – her squirrel suit is so soft!

They are both pretty huge: Mushroom Rilakkuma (Shroom Koom? Mushkuma?) is only 24 cm tall, but with a 27 cm diameter, he’s much rounder/wider than everyone else. Squirrel Korilakkuma towers over everyone else at half a meter!

They will be going to Simon – we actually really lucked out on this purchase because we weren’t even looking for this set when the opportunity presented itself! We were just looking into the Misdo plushie, and it turned out that the seller was just liquidating their Rilakkuma stock in general. Wow!