Tag Archives: 2012

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!

Rilakkuma on Facebook!

As of yesterday, 12/12/12, Rilakkuma officially has his own Facebook page!

To commemorate this occasion, they’re giving away 100 souvenir towels in the new year with a special Rilakkuma 10th anniversary design that won’t be sold anywhere else! Only for Japanese addresses though :( but still adorable!

Facebook - Rilakkuma Towel GIveaway

Not sure what the special design specifically will entail, but here’s the promo pic! Rilakkuma got stuck!

Keeping track of where Rilakkuma will appear in the San-X internet universe is quite the adventure:

  • This new Rilakkuma Facebook page has up-to-date Rilakkuma news, but it’s all in Japanese. It’s a little hard to tell at this point since the Facebook page is only a day old, but it looks like it follows the San-X Rilakkuma blog pretty closely, and in a timely manner.
  • The San-X Facebook page posts general news about San-X characters, and it’s all in English. Historically, it’s had a ton of Rilakkuma content; not sure how much that’ll change with the new Japanese Rilakkuma-only page. Also, news is generally delayed a few days and vaguely distilled from the general San-X blog on their website. The English is a ton of help though.
  • The San-X Net Shop Facebook page updates slightly more often than the Net Shop blog – also in Japanese. Their Facebook page came out recently, too (October 18).

They all hold different giveaways, and there’s really not as much overlap in news as you would expect.

What this means is Rilakkuma content on a different platform! What this means for me specifically is more hours looking at Rilakkuma content, for better or for worse (leaning towards the former haha).

Rilakkuma & Pizza Hut!

This past summer, Rilakkuma went and paired up with Pizza Hut, my favorite pizza chain, for one of the tastiest collaborations of all time.

From July 2012, if you bought a kid’s size crispy pizza, you could get a cute dessert bowl that came in two different designs (Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma). Also, if you were one of the lucky first 200 at each participating restaurant to order, your pizza would come in a special Rilakkuma pizza box!

Pizza Hut - campaign ad

Cute and simple box design!

Pizza Hut - dessert bowl designs

2 dessert bowl designs – Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma!

Sadly, the official images are super tiny, but thankfully, others have posted larger pictures of their prizes here, here, and here.

Also, I was peeking at the Pizza Hut – Japan’s side menu online, and it looks like the dessert bowl campaign might still be on but now, you can also get a Rilakkuma soup bowl with your purchase of soup!

Pizza Hut - soup

Sweet Corn or Minestrone Soup!

I’ll order it all!

Sometimes I think I have the least healthy eating habits ever, but Rilakkuma makes me feel better because it looks like his diet is pretty similar (pizza, donuts, and macarons?).

Maybe I should stop writing posts while I’m hungry; this is starting to turn into a Rilakkuma + food crossover blog hahaha.

Hara Roll & Rilakkuma!

So while I was researching Hara Donuts & Rilakkuma, I ran into another cute collaboration: Hara Roll and Rilakkuma!

It’s the same company as Hara Donuts, but they’re MACARONS! I love macarons! Looks like these were announced in back in February 2012 as the second time Hara Donuts has teamed up with Rilakkuma (the products featured in the last Hara post were from the third collaboration). The campaign is impossibly cute, as always.

Hara Roll - macarons

Came in strawberry, chocolate, and soy milk flavors.

Wow, I really need these in my life; maybe because there aren’t any macaron shops where I live? These might be in the territory of “too cute to eat” though.

Machadango has a ton a beautiful pictures of this collab – check it out! The reading experience will likely be better if you can read Chinese, because sad fact: Google Translate sometimes converts “Rilakkuma” into “sloth bear” since the Chinese translation of “Rilakkuma” they use is literally 懶熊 (懶 meaning lazy, slothful, or indolent; 熊 meaning bear). Doesn’t have the same gusto, does it? I’ve seen 轻松熊 (where 轻松 means relaxed), 松弛熊 (松弛 meaning relaxation), and 拉拉熊 (“lala”) used too.

Another fun fact, “macaron” in Chinese is 馬卡龍! Literally “horse card dragon”, but it’s pronounced “mǎkǎlóng” – sounds pretty close!

Rilakkuma Hawaii!

So San-X announced the Rilakkuma Hawaii Series a few weeks back, which is set to be released in February 2013.

Aloha Rilakkuma Series

Ready for the beach!

Because it was announced before I even started this blog (!), I wasn’t originally planning on making a post about them until their official release, but San-X just announced that they’ve teamed up with H.I.S., a Japanese travel agency, to offer a special Rilakkuma-themed Hawaiian vacation! You get a Rilakkuma travel tote filled with gifts, and the room is fitted with Rilakkuma plushies everywhere!

Rilakkuma Hawaii - Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Room

Rilakkuma Hawaii - Sheraton

Sheraton Waikiki Hotel Room

Seems like paradise to me!

More Donut Rilakkumas!

Keeping with the donut theme, I did a little research to see what other times Rilakkuma has been seen with donuts over the years.

Rilakkuma is certainly no stranger to donuts – back in 2007, Rilakkuma was seen stuck in a giant sprinkle donut as part of the Rilakkuma Cafe Series. Afterwards, San-X later had to release instructions on how to get Rilakkuma out of the donut so that you could use the donut like a cushion like the advertisement described.

Rilakkuma Cafe Series - donut

Rilakkuma could just eat his way out, if he wanted to.

Rilakkuma Cafe Series - donut side and back

Side and back views

Rilakkuma Cafe Series - donut seat

Finally free!

After that, San-X must’ve thought to consolidate those ideas together, because they released a donut-shaped Rilakkuma cushion in April 2012!

Donut Rilakkuma Cushion

Seems a little silly to be sitting so close to Rilakkuma’s face…

That should conclude Rilakkuma’s donut history for now! We’ll see if Rilakkuma partners up with donuts again (hopefully he’ll come to the US, too)!

Hara Donuts & Rilakkuma!

To celebrate the Happy Holiday Picnic Rilakkuma plushie featured yesterday, let’s take a look at another collaboration project: Hara Donuts & Rilakkuma!

Rilakkuma partnered with donut company Hara Donuts starting around November 2011. Hara Donuts uses a more minimalist approach to donuts, creating handmade donuts with all-natural ingredients. With their beginnings in a raw tofu shop in Kobe, their donuts use fresh, local tofu in their homemade recipes. Hara (はら) means “original” or “raw” in Japanese.

During the Hara Donuts & Rilakkuma campaign, they had a special Rilakkuma themed donut menu based on the Happy Holiday Picnic Series, and some great themed merchandise!

Hara Donuts - reference image

How cute is it that Rilakkuma brings donuts to a picnic?

Hara Donuts - donuts

Sweet & Sour Lemon Chocolate/White Chocolate Donuts

Hara Donuts - cell phone charm

Hara Donuts & Rilakkuma Cell Phone Charm

Cute! They also came out with a selection of coffee mugs and tote bags. I would’ve loved if they released a plushie so I could add him to my collection!

Rilakkuma Enherb Collaboration!

It’s been getting mildly chilly here (not objectively cold – it’s just Florida), so I was thinking about drinking hot tea regularly again.

As if on cue, San-X recently announced a new collaboration they have with Enherb for the holiday season. Enherb is an herb company that uses time-tested recipes and techniques to craft their soothing teas, fragrances, and skincare products. Their philosophy is that using the finest herbs regularly and drinking high quality herbal teas are essential to one’s well-being.

For this Rilakkuma Enherb collaboration, they released a special holiday tea and tea products (even a diffuser!). Ah, San-X – always aiming straight for my heart.

Enherb - Lemon Ginger

Limited Edition Holiday Release – Lemon Ginger Tea

Enherb - 3 teas

Other Rilakkuma-themed teas: Chamomile & Spearmint, Ginger Herbal, and Lavender & Rose

Ebherb - tumblers

Enherb Rilakkuma tea tumblers!

From what I understand, they even gave out a special holiday-themed Enherb Rilakkuma folder for customers who bought a tea package. This whole set seems so relaxing – a perfect fit for Rilakkuma!

Happy Holiday Picnic Series Rilakkuma!

The Happy Holiday Picnic Series came out in February 2012. This plushie was released as part of the same series as my Hamburger Rilakkuma, and came in the same decorated package as the Honey Bee plushie!

Happy Holiday Picnic - full body shot

Off to a picnic!

Happy Holiday Picnic - hamburger basket

The detailing on this prop is incredible. The waffling on the basket creates a really genuine texture, and the burger inside is so complete and fully thought-out that you can basically see all the ingredients.

Happy Holiday Picnic Series - boot detail

He’s even got personalized boots!

Wow! I’m so impressed! Also, it’s good to see Rilakkuma finally get a pair of shoes hahaha.

Rilakkuma Cheesecakes 2012!

San-X is bringing back the popular Rilakkuma-shaped cheesecakes from last year!

Rilakkuma cheesecakes 2012

Rilakkuma cheesecakes

Rilakkuma will be caramel crème brûlée flavored, and Korilakkuma will be blueberry mousse flavored! Looks yummy – apparently the cream cheese is from France haha. Too bad they don’t ship internationally! But maybe I would feel weird about eating Rilakkuma’s face?