Happy Natural Time Caravan design announced!

Whew, I feel like I’ve been waiting for an eternity for this design to be announced, but San-X finally released the Happy Natural Time Caravan design at long last!

Happy Natural Time Series - Caravan design

Is he supposed to be holding an owl for real this time, or is that supposed to be Kiiroitori?

How cute! I really love plushie designs that have alternative positioning!

That being said, I’m probably going to pass on this one since it just looks like a position and slight design variation on the original Happy Natural Time line. I was hoping to drop my money on a more pie-related plushie, but this guy is so cute nonetheless! I’d love to hear if you plan on getting him, and I can’t wait to see everyone else’s close up photos!

Hope everyone’s October is going well! Simon and I carved pumpkins yesterday with our medical school class, and it was a blast! The weather has been cooling down a lot from its usual blistering heat, so it’s definitely beginning to feel like fall!

Simon carved a Rilakkuma pumpkin hehehe:

Rilakkuma pumpkin - 2013

Yay!

Eeee so cute when it’s lit up! Since this was taken on my phone at the school, I’ll try to take another photo on my better camera with my Rilakkuma plushie too when it gets closer to Halloween :D

The return of the indifferent snowperson!

Yay, the Sendai Rilakkuma Store 1st Anniversary designs were officially announced, and look who’s back for a cameo!

Sendai 1st Anniversary - Announcement

Snow and orange theme!

Christmas 2011 San-X Net Shop Exclusive - indifferent snow person

I see you!

The Sendai 1st anniversary Kiiroitori is holding a mini version of the indifferent snowperson from the Christmas 2011 Net Shop Exclusive playset!

Wow, I can’t believe they brought it back again this year, I’m so ecstatic!

I love the snow and oranges theme because oranges are also my home state Florida’s state fruit! Oranges are the sweetest after a frost because the cold makes the oranges produce more sugar for energy!

These cute mini-plushies will be sold at all the Rilakkuma Stores for 1300 円.

Getting more into the Christmas spirit…

Christmas 2013 - individual plushies

Going down the chimney to deliver presents!

Chrismas 2013 - Santa hat

Wow!

Christmas 2013 - Store Exclusive set

A Christmas scene that says “Heartful Happy Christmas”! Loving the bear ornaments, wrapping paper, and stockings :D

Wow! The Christmas 2013 lineup is pretty incredible!

The three individual Christmas plushies (1800円 each) will be on sale at multiple locations as well as the San-X Net Shop, while the Santa hat (1480円) and playset (10000円)will be a Rilakkuma Store exclusive – all to be released on November 2nd!

There are also keychains and special drawstring bags exclusive to the Rilakkuma Stores, too!

Whew, November 2nd seems like a pretty exciting day! I can’t believe it’s coming up so soon, I feel like the time is really flying by!

In the just past week, I’ve learned how to draw blood, perform a cardiac exam, and insert an IUD. I also talked to someone about lowering their blood pressure by drinking less coffee, which was pretty exciting. Things seem really busy but everything is so fun/interesting that I don’t really feel too exhausted right now. I’ll just keep on keeping on with Rilakkuma by my side! :D

Wagara Rilakkuma UFO Catcher Plushie!

It’s my pleasure to introduce Wagara Rilakkuma!

Wagara Rilakkuma UFO Catcher - full

Oh, hallo!

Wagara Rilakkuma UFO Catcher - right detail

He wears a scarf with a wonderful Rilakkuma design!

Wagara Rilakkuma UFO Catcher - left detail

This side says “リラックマ” (Rilakkuma) with a little dango icon at the end, just like his fabric tag!

Wagara Rilakkuma UFO Catcher - back

Lazy Rilakkuma in the back!

Wagara Rilakkuma UFO Catcher - stickers

And some absolutely wonderful Rilakkuma stickers, too!

This handsome plushie was a generous gift from reader Jennifer – thank you so so much, he is an absolutely adorable addition to my collection, and he fits right in with everyone else already! I’m so fortunate to have such wonderful readers like you!

He is a UFO Catcher plushie released by Fansclub in May 2013, and he is wagara-themed! Wagara (和柄) is a traditional Japanese pattern or design, and were traditionally patterns used for kimono or yukata.

So this Rilakkuma is wearing a wagara-inspired scarf, combining traditional Japanese pattern styles and modern & hip Rilakkuma! The other plushies from the same release have similar designs, in the forms of pillows and coin purses – I love it!

Whew, sorry for the complete radio silence on my end for the past few weeks: last week we had our first major final exam in biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics so I was a bit held up with studying.

We’ve starting anatomy/physiology this week: I’m really excited about it, but I’ve never taken anatomy or physiology before so I’m hoping it won’t be too overwhleming.

I’m still waiting on my Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary plushie because I told the seller to hold off until the Caravan design was announced, but dang, I didn’t think it’d take so long to get news on the Caravan! I kind of expected them to release the Caravan design this month, but I guess I’ll just keep waiting…

Kichijoji 3rd Anniversary designs announced!

Whew, I know I just posted yesterday, but just a quick update – I just get so excited about these anniversary plushies!

It’s the Kichijoji Rilakkuma Store’s 3rd Anniversary Plushies!

Kichijoji 3rd Anniversary - announcement

Lookin’ cozy!

Hey, they’re roasted sweet potato (焼き芋) themed, and they’re sporting some pretty suave plaid outfits! They come out on October 12, and they’re each 1,300円 and will be available at all 8 Rilakkuma Stores.

Also, looks like you can get some great Rilakkuma Halloween coasters too!

They look like a throwback to the 2006 Winter Caravan plushie… that also seems to be purged from the San-X website? Check out these Japanese bloggers’ accounts here and here (it existed, I swear!).

In other news, check out this bananas Yahoo Japan auction listing for the Rilakkuma Store 5th anniversary plushie!

Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary - upside-down

Hahahahahaha

So basically, the plush is supposed to look like the one on the right, but this person bought a defect that has the fishing rod upside-down and backwards! They were asking for 150,000円 for it – that’s $1,500 USD!! Pretty wild!

ETA: there’s another auction listing for an upside down one! Except this time, it’s for only 2980円 haha, much more reasonable. I guess there were a good number of upside down ones that made it to the shelves!

I’m expecting this plushie sometime soon actually (the normal one that’s right side up, and not over a thousand dollars haha), but I asked the seller to hold off until the Fall Caravan for the Happy Natural Time Series is announced so I can combine shipping if I end up wanting to order that one, too. Can’t wait to see this guy though!!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma Plushie – Store Exclusive!

Ahhh I’m so excited to share with you all this plushie I received this week!

Hooray, it’s Sandwich Rilakkuma!!

Sandwich Rilakkuma - full

Sharing one big sub sandwich!

Sandwich Rilakkuma - Rilakkuma detail

Rilakkuma looks like he’s in a bit of a food coma haha

Sandwich Rilakkuma - Kiiroitori detail

Kiiroitori’s holding the Rilakkuma variation of the French flag!

Sandwich Rilakkuma - back

The back of the plush, with their little bear buns hovering in the air. Speaking of buns, the sandwich bun is incredibly soft and fuzzy!

Sandwich Rilakkuma - tag

Tag art! Looks like the illustration shows little kuma-toothpicks that hold the sandwich together, too!

Sandwich Rilakkuma - tomato detail

Wow, even the tomato slices hidden inside have little embroidered details!

This set was the Rilakkuma Store exclusive for the Bonjour Series, and was released February 19, 2010, which was also the weekend the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store celebrated its 1st anniversary!

At the time, only the Umeda and Tokyo Station branches were open! Wow, and I was busy in the middle of my undergrad and hadn’t even heard of Rilakkuma back then haha how the times have changed.

This plushie is my ultimate dream piece, and has been at the top of my wishlist since I first started collecting. I love the Bonjour Series a lot (mainly because of its baguette-centrism), and I’m so lucky to have obtained two plushies I really dreamed for (this and the Caravan edition) during this past month!

This also means I’ll have to rebuild my wishlist again haha.

Huge thanks to Ariel for being so diligent in sending me links for Japanese auctions for this plushie!! I’ve seen 4 separate auctions for this plushie come and go (way above my price range) since the summertime, but I was finally successful with this one and it’s so perfect! Thanks again for keeping an eye out for me!

Of course, since these bears are French, we had to welcome them home with some croissants…

Sandwich Rilakkuma - with croissants

Any excuse to bake!

Hopefully one day in the future, I’ll get to visit France, and I’ll bring these two along – they’d blend right in, no problem!

Rilakkuma Happy Natural Time Series!

Hey, though this series leaked a few months ago, the official page for the Happy Natural Time Series is up!

You can check out the official photos for all the new products in the line-up, from plushies to towels and correction tape!

Happy Natural Time Series - full

Deer ponchos!

Happy Natural Time Series - towel

“Everyday Happy with Natural motifs.”

Pretty cool! Also remember that the pre-orders for the Lawson playset for this series are going on now until the end of October or when the pre-order fills up!

I really do love the pie theme, but I think I’ll wait for the Caravan/Store Exclusives to see if I’ll pick anything up – preferably one of Rilakkuma holding a pie?

In related news, I think my Rilakkuma plushie purchasing may be slowing down a bit since I’m a med student now (and have no significant income) PLUS I just won my ultimate Rilakkuma dream piece haha, but who knows – I always say I’ll slow down but San-X keeps releasing cute plushies one after the other haha.

In other news, my first exam of medical school went pretty well! Because it was our first exam, our instructors tried to make it easier on us by only having 30 questions… but I actually think that ended up making it harder because with so few questions, there really isn’t much room for error.

But anyway, I brought along my Rilakkuma (he stayed in my bag though) and Simon brought My Only Rilakkuma to the exam as good luck charms! Grades haven’t been posted yet, but I think they worked!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma Plushie – Caravan Edition!

Bonjour Rilakkuma - box

Is it cheese? Is it honey?

Who could be inside this Cheese Honey box?

It’s Bonjour Rilakkuma – Caravan Edition!

This is a plushie I’ve wanted since I first started learning about Rilakkuma a year ago!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - full

Bonjour!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - baguette

Giant baguette!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - beret

Cute poofy beret!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - lining

And his pocket lining has both blue and red polka dots, compared to the usual light blue only spots!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - tag

Tag art! The Rilakkuma on the tag looks more like the regular release, but his paper bag says “La boulangerie de Rilakkuma” (Rilakkuma Bakery).

This plushie was released as a part of the French-themed Bonjour Series in March 2010. Appropriately, this Rilakkuma’s color scheme matches the French flag: red, white, and blue!

He is a Caravan plushie, which means that he was part of a special additional release during the Bonjour Series time. The Rilakkuma Caravan is a seasonal affair where San-X holds special Rilakkuma events at stores and locations all over Japan – not just the 8 Rilakkuma Stores! They bring out the big Rilakkuma/Korilakkuma/Kiiroitori suits, and there’s a chance to take photos. Most important (for me) is that they also sell these special plushies that are design variants of the major series of the moment. Right now, the caravan is Rilakkuma Wonderland themed!

This Bonjour plushie is my third caravan plushie (my others are the Aloha Caravan and the Egg Caravan).

Yay, I’m so excited to have won this! Liemzie (Tea Two Sugars Please) has the most incredible luck in the world and found not one, but TWO of these super rare bears (WOW) and put this one up on auction.

To celebrate this plushie, and maybe help him feel less homesick for France (hahaha), we baked some croissants!

Well so actually, croissants are thought to have originated in Austria, but they been of a staple of French bakeries for centuries! So welcome home, Bonjour Rilakkuma!

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - croissants

Yum!

Speaking of croissants, this is one of my favorite Disney shorts – it’s croissant themed!

Too cute!

In addition, I was also pleasantly surprised to find some extra Rilakkuma goodies in the box:

Bonjour Series Rilakkuma - extras

Rilakkuma Wonderland stationary and a Korilakkuma finger puppet!

Ahhh so awesome! Thanks so much, Liemzie!

Also hahaha, if you look closely at the stationary design second from the left, there’s a Rilakkuma riding a horse in the background that looks just like the Rilakkuma Wonderland Store exclusive… except he has teeth like the Wonderland Caravan plushie! I wonder if Rilakkuma’s teeth are going to be more and more visible now?

Whew! Opening my mailbox and finding Rilakkuma stuff always makes my week! :) :) :) Which is just in time because I have my first medical school exam tomorrow! Maybe I’ll bring a Rilakkuma along for good luck hahaha.

Rilakkuma Literature!

It’s Labor Day weekend over here, a nationwide holiday during the first Monday in September dedicated to the American worker! Of course, that means we get the Monday to relax from all the hard work, so that means I have more time to blog – and sleep!

Anyway, I know my blog gets super plushie-centric, so it’s time to spice things up with some Rilakkuma literature!

Especially since it’s currently storming, so snuggling up to a good book seems like a pretty good idea right now!

Rilakkuma Fan Magazine - full

It’s the 10th Anniversary Rilakkuma Fan Magazine!

Rilakkuma Fan Magazine - illustrations

Inside, there are beautiful full-page illustrations of the Rilakkuma Wonderland Series.

Rilakkuma Fan Magazine - timeline detail

There’s also a really great broad overview of Rilakkuma plushies over the years!

Rilakkuma Fan Magazine - bag

The magazine also came with this neat looking bag. Hamburger Rilakkuma plushie not included haha

Rilakkuma Fan Magazine - interior

The bag is also reversible, and features a white marching band print on the other side!

Rilakkuma Fan Magazine - bag back

And the back features two marching band Rilakkumas holding paws!

San-X released this in late July 2013 – they called it the Rilakkuma Fan 10th Anniversary “Mook” (magazine + book) hahaha I suppose that sounds a little better than a “boogazine” (or does it?). In addition to the bag, the mook also came with a sheet of stickers featuring past Rilakkuma series!

Even though I only took photos of 2 pages, there really is a ton of content inside – from plushie history, to collaborations, and even current Rilakkuma news!

The only real bother is that the mook was attached to the box with the bag inside, and it was tough to remove. I’m not really sure if I was “supposed” to remove the mook, but I wanted to read it without having an empty box attached to it.

Speaking of magazines, check out Rilakkumagazine Vol. 2!

Rilakkumagazine Vol.2 - full

It’s Wonderland themed!

Rilakkumagazine Vol. 2 - opened

The magazine folds out and features a lot of different things like a quick run-through or Rilakkuma history as well as a feature on the Wonderland products. I personally liked the illustrations the best!

Though they’re really more like pamphlets, these Rilakkumagazines are super fun and cute to collect! And they definitely give my Rilakkuma plushie shelf a little bit of diversity.

San-X began this Rilakkumagazine business starting with the Aloha Rilakkuma series – Rilakkumagazine Vol. 1 earlier this year (February 9). They’ve only come out with 2 so far, so I’m at 100%! I wonder if they’ll release a new Rilakkumagazine with every major series? Let’s see how long I can keep this going haha.

I love collecting these books/magazines, but it’s also a little silly of me because I can’t actually read Japanese… but I really like looking at the photos and illustrations! The pages are pretty easy to follow since they’re photo-heavy, mostly series I’ve seen before, and there is a little English sprinkled in. Maybe one day I’ll be able to read the words haha

Not literature, but still Rilakkuma-related – check out these little extras that came with my order!

Rilakkuma Literature - extras

Rilakkuma+Korilakkuma pen toppers and a Rilakkuma keychain!

Eeee so adorable! With all of my 22cm plushies on my shelf, it’s so nice to get some variation to mix things up a bit :)

As before, thanks so much to Ariel (Rilakkuma Desu) for helping me out with getting all of these as a part of my super-big order last month! Definitely read her blog; she just posted a huge 3 part series on all the great new Rilakkuma x Lawson campaigns/releases!

Hope everyone has a relaxing Labor Day weekend! Simon and I will be going out for steaks to celebrate!

Update on the anniversary plushies

Hey really quick update on the anniversary plushies: turns out the fishing Rilakkuma/Kiiroitori is just to commemorate the 5th birthday of the Rilakkuma Stores in general, which is why it falls on Umeda’s anniversary (the oldest store) but can be purchased at all 8 Rilakkuma Stores across Japan on September 14.

Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary - announcement

Fishing Rilakkuma is for every Rilakkuma Store!

Meanwhile, Umeda gets its own store-specific 5th anniversary plush too!

So basically there will be two “birthday” plushies at the Umeda Rilakkuma Store on September 14: the Rilakkuma riding the fish AND the 5th anniversary set with all 3 of the Rilakkuma crew: Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori. You can also get special Rilakkuma event medals at Umeda and Tokyo Station!

Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary - announcement

Wow, Rilakkuma’s 10th anniversary AND the Rilakkuma Store’s 5th anniversary!

So continuing the new anniversary theme of Japanese culture/traditions (see previous update post), Umeda’s special set is chestnut themed!

Chestnuts are known as a symbol of autumn in Japan, and are used in seasonal dishes such as Kurigohan (栗ご飯, Chestnut Rice).

You can even find chestnuts in Japanese folktales, proverbs, and nursery rhymes such as “The Crab and the Monkey” (さるかに合戦, saru kani gassen) – a short story where a crab is killed by a monkey, and the crabs kids and friends (one is a chestnut) seek justice.

Probably more on chestnuts than you cared to know about, but it’s nice to know the cultural context of these plushies. My family had a package of roast chestnuts while we were in Japan, they sell them right on the street – pretty convenient!

I’m still not sure super what Kiiroitori’s costume is supposed to be, so if anyone could enlighten me, that would be great haha he kinda just looks like a lion to me. (UPDATE: WOW, apparently Kii is a raw chestnut!! Thanks so much, Ariel!)

So pretty cool: so far this year, Sapporo’s theme is the harvest moon, the 5th Anniversary for all stores is the red sea bream, and Umeda’s is chestnuts!

Anyway, that’s it for me today – more photos of plushies to come as I finish studying about cholesterol and HDL, LDL, and VDL haha.

Yamanote Line Rilakkuma Plushies!

Yay, they’re both finally here: the Yamanote Line Rilakkumas!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - full

Wow, a double Rilakkuma set!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - back

The backs of their shirts match!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - hats

Their hats are slightly different: the station master’s is red/gold with a bear, and the fan’s in black/gold with an “R”!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - stationmaster

The Yamanote stationmaster Rilakkuma’s ID badge says “駅長リラックマ” (Stationmaster Rilakkuma) with a little gold bear icon! His outfit also has cute bear-shaped buttons with an R lapel pin design!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - stationmaster bag detail

The stationmaster also has a super cute cross-body bag!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - fan

The Yamanote fan’s shirt looks like the front of the train with the Rilakkuma crew inside, and has a “50” (for the Yamanote green line’s 50th anniversary) as well as “山手線 Yamanote Line” printed on it!

Yamanote Line Rilakkumas - fan camera

Yamanote fan Rilakkuma also comes with this suave camera with a little Rilakkuma detail in the corner! Also, I’m so impressed that they even added a little flash lamp detail on the camera, too!

These two bears were part of this big collaboration between the JR Yamanote Green Line and Rilakkuma back in early August. It was a perfect collaboration because the Yamanote Green Line was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Rilakkuma’s celebrating his 10th!

In addition to this great plushie pair release, the Yamanote Line itself became Rilakkuma-themed! While I didn’t get to ride the Yamanote Line while this collaboration was happening, San-X did take some pretty great photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The Yamanote Line holds a special place in my heart because I rode it so often with my family during my short visit to Tokyo this past summer. Our hotel was close to Tokyo Station, and we took the Yamanote Line to Kanda to get the Pizza Hut x Rilakkuma collab products as well as to Harajuku to visit their Rilakkuma Store!! So these two plushies are sort of like my very belated souvenirs hahaha

The Yamanote Line basically goes in this huge circle around Tokyo, with stops at a bunch of the major city centers! One of the stops, Tokyo Station, actually has a Rilakkuma Store in the terminal!

Getting both of these bears was such an awesome team effort: Ariel (Rilakkuma Desu) helped me get the Yamanote fan Rilakkuma from Tokyo (right on the Yamanote line!), and Liemzie (Tea Two Sugars Please) helped me get the Yamanote stationmaster from Umeda! A gigantic thank you to both of them – be sure to check out their blogs!

In other news, I still have more exciting Rilakkuma stuff to photograph and post (I seem to have a constant backlog haha), but you know, slow and steady with that because I’ve got medical biochemistry on my plate right now too haha.