Finally here – the Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary Plushie!

Just hanging out.

Mr. Red Sea Bream says “Hello!”

Kiiroitori rides along in the back!

Red fabric ribbon says “Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary!”

Plus some Halloween coasters! My first Halloween-themed Rilakkuma items actually haha

He kinda looks like a Christmas ornament, doesn’t he?

Oh my gosh, I pre-ordered him way back in September and just received him this weekend because I was waiting for the Happy Natural Time Series Caravan design to be announced for the longest time. Ah well, he is definitely worth the wait!

As I mentioned in a previous post, the first Rilakkuma Store (Umeda) opened five years ago – to celebrate, San-X released both an anniversary plushie specific to the Umeda branch (chestnut-themed) as well as an anniversary plushie for the Rilakkuma Stores as a whole (this guy!).

Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori are riding a big red sea bream (鯛, tai), a symbol of good fortune in Japanese culture. There’s also a Japanese proverb “腐っても鯛” (Kusattemo tai) which roughly translates to “No matter how spoiled/old, it’s still sea bream” because even when sea bream isn’t very fresh, its flavor lasts longer than most other fish so it’s still good to eat (turns out that the fish produces a substance, inosinic acid, that decomposes slower than most fish and helps it resist spoiling!). Following, this proverb reflects how even in dire circumstances or old age, a person of quality still has their worth.

Hopefully this Rilakkuma and sea bream will give me some good luck for my upcoming medical school years!

In other news, the Rilakkuma x Enherb collaboration is gearing up again!

I love their ad this year!

Looks like they’ve extended their product line since last year with some honey/herb mix and bath salts, which is great to see!

The Enherb collab is close to my heart because (1) I love tea and (2) it was one of my very first posts on my blog!

Speaking of flashbacks to old loves, how CUTE is this new ad for the new Sumikko Gurashi tableware line?

Too cute to eat?

Appropriately, Tonkatsu is positioned at the very end of the cutlet hahaha

So amazing to see San-X developing Sumikko Gurashi! My sister has the mini plush like the one in the photo, and we both have the larger/regular sized one too!

Tonkatsu has always been my favorite, and like Enherb, was also the subject of one of my blog’s earliest posts :D

Speaking of which, Rilakkuma Lifestyle’s 1 year anniversary is coming up on the 21st – wow, I can’t believe it’s been a year already!