Tag Archives: tokyo

Tokyo Station 7th Anniversary NYC Rilakkuma Plush!

Rilakkuma visits the Big Apple! Check out this NYC Rilakkuma design from Tokyo Station’s 7th Anniversary celebration!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - full

Hello, Statue of Liberty Rilakkuma!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - sign detail

A kuma’s take on Statue of Liberty’s tabula ansata: with a variation on the classic “I ❤ NY” sign!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - logo detail

Even the Rilakkuma Store logo has a Statue of Liberty crown! Rilakkuma’s flowing robe also has small white bear shape details.

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - ice cream torch detail

Rilakkuma’s torch is actually an ice cream with strawberry sauce!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - crown detail

A beautiful diadem with a silver bear detail at the base. Like the Statue of Liberty itself, Rilakkuma’s crown also has 7 rays, symbolizing the sun, 7 seas, and 7 continents.

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - tail detail

My favorite detail of them all: the hot dog motif with “R” in mustard cleverly hidden on his tail! And a pretty Tokyo Station 7th anniversary ribbon, too.

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 7th Anniversary - New York City NYC - Statue of Liberty - 東京駅店7周年は 「アメリカNY」 ぬいぐるみ - tag art

Tag art: a tasty, plump hot dog, a perfect symbol for NYC that Rilakkuma would enjoy!

Wow, what an amazingly detailed design to celebrate the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store’s 7th Anniversary! This patriotic Rilakkuma came out in February 2016, as part of the Rilakkuma World Tour anniversary theme. He joins the Wild West Rilakkuma crew (who I will post about soon, too, promise!) as the newest addition to my “American” Rilakkuma collection.

The Statue of Liberty is an incredibly meaningful symbol of freedom for us here in America. It is so fitting that the Tokyo Station Anniversary team selected NYC to represent them on Rilakkuma’s world tour this year, as both Tokyo and New York City are bustling cities that embody the metropolitan lifestyle of their respective nations. From the homage to Bartholdi’s original vision to a nod to contemporary NYC (hot dogs, I ❤ NY), this Rilakkuma plush design offers such a unique take on a classic symbol, and I really appreciate the depth of detail that I have come to expect from San-X plushies.

What else is fresh in the Rilakkuma-verse?

If you find yourself in Osaka this summer, you can relax at the Rilakkuma Cafe for a limited time only!

Rilakkuma Cafe - リラックマカフェ - dish

What a beautiful design featuring Koguma-chan, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori!

Rilakkuma Cafe - リラックマカフェ - goods

Rilakkuma Cafe goods! Plate: 1,080円. Notebook & pen set: 680円.

Opening on May 25, this cute cafe will offer a Rilakkuma-themed menu with special Rilakkuma Cafe goods – don’t miss out! I think their paper napkins are especially great, and I love how Koguma-chan is prominently featured!

I’ve always wanted to go to a Rilakkuma-themed restaurant! Japan often features seasonal Rilakkuma pop-ups for a limited time, and Taipei has a permanent Rilakkuma Cafe – I’ve always wanted to go! Maybe I can make my way to Taiwan sometime in my future.

Also, a sneak peek into the upcoming Teahouse series!

Teahouse Series - standard full

A multicolored dango theme with removable hoodie!

Teahouse series - jumbo

A jumbo Rilakkuma dango, how cute!!

Anticipated to be released this July! So look forward to this cute (and convertible!) design and more to come! I’ll post more information as soon as I learn more!

Back in the real world, I just finished my third year of medical school! After my super intense surgery rotation, I now have two major national board exams to take before I begin my 4th year of medical school – exciting but exhausting!

What are your plans for the summer?

Happy Lunar New Year!

Valentine's Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day! Hope it was full of bears, whether they were Rilakkuma bears or gummy bears hahaha.

Wow, it’s really been so long since I’ve posted! Medical school has really been a whirlwind lately: I’m almost done with my coursework for this year, and will be taking my first national board exam at the end of April!! Apologies for the spottiness in posting, but school comes first right now!

By the way…

Instagram - Rilakkuma Lifestyle

Rilakkuma for your daily life!

You can catch me on Instagram when I’m not posting here! Recently, I haven’t had long stretches of time where I could sit down for an hour or two to write these posts on WordPress, but do get a chance to snap a quick shot of some Rilakkumas from my collection for Instagram. Check it out!

In the meantime, whoa there’s been a lot going on in the Rilakkuma World! Let’s run through some highlights!

Fresh Lemon Series - cover

Hello, Lemon Rilakkuma!

Fresh Lemon Series - standard release

Super cute farmers for the standard release! 1,900円 each.

Fresh Lemon Series - Rilakkuma Store Exclusive

For the Rilakkuma Store Exclusive, Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma turn into… lemon/bee hybrids!? And Kiiroitori shapeshifts into a lemon hehehe. Love their poses! 1,780円 each.

Fresh Lemon Series - hanging charms

Another Rilakkuma Store exclusive: lovely hanging charms featuring the whole team inside of lemons! 1,380円 each.

lemon-5

For Caravan: a sitting Rilakkuma with a lemon hat and a Kiiroitori lemon! 1,800円.

Fresh Lemon Series (フレッシュレモン) – March 2015

Wow, what an incredibly detailed line to ring in the spring season! The illustrations are beautiful as always, and I love the creativity they’ve brought into their designs! I absolutely love that they actually morphed Kiiroitori into a lemon shape for the Store Exclusive Series hehehe, and then completely transformed him into an entire lemon for the Caravan plushie! Kinda reminds me of those Animorphs book covers haha.

I think I’m going to pick up at least one of the plushies from this series, just haven’t decided yet! I use lemons enough in my daily eating and tea-drinking so I should probably get a Rilakkuma tribute for that hehe.

Mochi Series - full

Plushies from all sorts of famous San-X lines! 600円 each.

Mochie Series - Rilakkuma close up

Wow!! Check out this ultra-cute photo taken by the San-X Net Shop!

Mochi Series – February 2015

Hahaha they remind me a lot of Disney Tsum Tsums! Really cute, and I love how round and squishable they look! I have a really big Winnie the Pooh Tsum Tsum so I’d really love to get a really big mochi Rilakkuma to match too – hope they come out with larger sizes soon!

Valentine's Day 2015 - full

What a lovely bouquet of hearts! Korilakkuma got all pink hearts hehehe. 1,780円 each.

Valentines Day 2015 Series – February 2015

These lovely plushies came out just in time for Valentine’s Day this year! I always love these holiday-themed sets, and I especially love the little “I love” tag attached to their fabric tag – such a romantic detail!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 6th Anniversary - cover

Traveling in style! 1,500円 each.

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store 6th Anniversary Series – February 2015

Whoa! Can you believe the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store has been open for 6 years already? The Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store was actually the first Rilakkuma I visited, back in 2013, so it holds a special place in my heart!

The whole crew looks super fashionable and ready to travel in style! What an appropriate design for Tokyo Station, since it’s such a travel hotspot! I have to admit, it was hard transitioning from the standard sized plushies they used to release for the store anniversaries, but since getting mini-plushies such as the plushies from the Vegetable Series, the JINS PC series, and the Factory Series I’ve really warmed up to this mini-style of Rilakkuma plush!

Fukuoka 5th Anniversary - cover

Yum, looks delicious! 1,580円 each.

Fukuoka Rilakkuma Store 5th Anniversary Series – March 2015

What a beautifully detailed anniversary series! This year’s Fukuoka anniversary series is mentaiko themed! Mentaiko (明太子) is marinated pollock and cod roe, and is the most popular souvenir from Fukuoka! It’s a popular complement to noodle dishes (like this Rilakkuma plush), with rice, or on its own (like Korilakkuma’s!). Perfect as this year’s anniversary plush!

I love learning about Japanese food and culture through Rilakkuma plushies! I might want to pick up the Rilakkuma from this line if I do well on my next exam – his noodle bowl looks delicious!!

So what do YOU think? Any of these bears catching your eye?

 

New! Rilakkuma & SHINKANSEN collaboration + Tokyo Souvenir Series!

Hi everyone! I’m back from the Dominican Republic finally, and whew it is wild being back in the States again!

But wow, lots of cool things have happened while I was out!

First up, a Rilakkuma & SHINKANSEN collaboration!

Rilakkuma & SHINKANSEN - plushies

Rilakkuma turns into a bullet train! Keychain for 1,300円, and plushie for 1,900円.

Rilakkuma & SHINKANSEN - folders and pens

Folders for 300円, and pens for 600円 – cute!!

I picked up the Dr. Yellow version of this plushie, so I’ll probably try to get my hands on this version since I’ve traveled on this Shinkansen before!

The Shinkansen (新幹線) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan, and it’s oldest network is the Tōkaidō Shinkansen (東海道新幹線), which celebrates its 50th birthday this year! Happy birthday Tōkaidō Shinkansen!

A first wave of these items will be sold at Tokyo Station beginning August 19, and then these products will eventually be available in Rilakkuma Stores all over Japan starting August 23.

How cool that they are continuing the success of the transportation theme, which was started by the Yamanote Line collaboration (also with a 50th anniversary theme) from last year!

Speaking of the Yamanote Line, a big congratulations to Rilakkuma for winning an award for excellence at the Transit Advertising Awards 2014!

Following the tourism theme once more, check out the new Tokyo Souvenir Rilakkuma!

Tokyo Souvenir Series - plushies

Cute souvenir plushie for 2,000円, and his keychain counterpart for 1,480円 – wow, these bears are getting pricey!

Tokyo Souvenir Series - stickers and folders

What a lovely pattern! Stickers for 300円, and folders for 350円.

In addition to the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building, this design also features Tokyo Tower (the second tallest structure in Japan behind Skytree) and the Kaminarimon (雷門, an outer entrance gate leading to the Sensō-ji in Asakusa).

I have the Marunouchi Rilakkuma that is really similar in design, but I might pick this one up too for completion’s sake – hard to say no to these camera-wielding Rilakkumas!

Interestingly, these products will be available at all Rilakkuma Stores from August 2 – August 31, but starting from September, only the Rilakkuma in the Tokyo prefecture (Tokyo Station, Tokyo Skytree, Harajuku, Kichijoji) will be stocking these items – which makes some sense since these are supposed to be Tokyo souvenirs anyway hahaha.

Wow, San-X has been really focusing on the tourism and transportation angle recently! In addition to these new designs, San-X is also expanding on their Dr. Yellow line to include socks, chopsticks, and other merchandise now as well – cool!

Rilakkuma Meets Dr. Yellow - chopsticks

Wow, Dr. Yellow-shaped chopsticks for 650円!

I’ve already made quite a few purchases on this line, but super cute nonetheless!

In other news, all of my Space Series Rilakkumas have arrived! I just got back from the Dominican Republic recently, so please be patient as I try to get my bearings back here in the United States!

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.

Rilakkuma Store Clerk Plushie!

Working through my Japan haul slowly but surely…

This Rilakkuma is a Rilakkuma Store employee!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk - full

Irasshaimase!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk - apron

His lovely apron with the Rilakkuma Store logo!

Rilakkuma Store Clerk - back

He’s even got a leather tag hanging from his zipper! Also, you can see that his apron is lined with a nice brown and white polka dot fabric from this angle, too!

He was a Rilakkuma Store exclusive first released way back in September of 2009! He holds a special place in my heart because he reminds me of all my adventures in Japan, running around finding Rilakkuma Stores :D

Continuing the second half post theme of “Rilakkuma products my dad bought”, check out this Rilakkuma riding a banana!

Bananas are my dad’s favorite food!

Tokyo Rilakkuma - banana

I wish I had plushie version of this!

In a previous post, I mentioned that my Nara Rilakkuma is part of an HNA series the produces special Rilakkumas for each prefecture in Japan – this Rilakkuma is part of the same collection, except this one is from the Kantō region line, representing Tokyo!

I guess Tokyo is known for their bananas?

The only thing I could really find out about bananas is Tokyo is the company Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈), which makes tasty banana cream-filled sponge cakes.

My family bought a few while we were in Tokyo. They’re pretty good, and apparently they’re the #1 best-selling souvenir! Is this Rilakkuma really referring to this banana cream cake company? Googling “tokyo” + “banana” and there are just pages and pages about this company alone!

Tokyo Banana - display

It’s a really cute concept: the regular banana cream only ones are a solid yellow, and they use animal print to represent additional flavors. This giraffe-print one is filled with banana caramel custard cream! There’s also leopard spots (chocolate), and tabby cat stripes (caramel).

Anyway, I also found out there are banana vending machines around Tokyo, so maybe that has something to do with it, too haha.

In other news, I’ve been playing that daily Rilakkuma raffle that Ariel posted about earlier and won another background, Rilakkuma Meets Honey theme this time! I think I’ll play every day haha

Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori plushie!

Hello again! I’m back in Florida!

Wow, I haven’t updated since I arrived to the Philippines! I said things would slow down on this front after my fast-paced Rilakkuma adventures in Japan, but it turns out that applied to my blogging (and internet connection) too haha. But now that I’m back in the states, I have some time to burn while I wait for med school to start (August 5)!

First up is Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori!

Tokyo Skytree Set - full

At 2080 ft., Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world! … which would make this Rilakkuma more than 1000 feet tall if scaled up to actual size!

Tokyo Skytree Set - Rilakkuma close-up

Fun fact: this is actually my first Kiiroitori hahaha

Tokyo Skytree Set - Korilakkuma

Love that they still included all the details: Rilakkuma has a functioning zipper, and Korilakkuma has her signature red button, even though it is barely visible!

This particular set, with the bears hanging on to the tower all King Kong-like, came out December 2012! A different set with the 3 with Rilakkuma holding dango came out at the Skytree Rilakkuma Store’s grand opening on May 22, 2012 – super cute, too!

Anyway, over the next few days, I’m gonna try to photograph and catalog all the different plushies I picked up while in Japan while I try to get caught up on all the Rilakkuma news I’ve missed – for example omg hahaha that the new Rilakkuma Wonderland mini plushies’ tails are all different colors?

Rilakkuma Wonderland - tails

Also, dango-drummer Rilakkuma’s nose looks full and normal here?

And aahhh the super cute Rilakkuma x Tower Records collab?? I love Ariel’s and Angel’s photos! So jealous!

These musically inclined Rilakkumas dovetail quite nicely with the new Akiko Yano Rilakkuma collaboration song, リラックマのわたし (“The Rilakkuma that is me”)! The CD will be available at Tower Records on August 7!

PS a big OOOH to the close-ups of the Rilakkuma Wonderland float playset!

The Tale of Four Rilakkuma Stores!

Hello! I’m more than halfway through my Japan trip and I finally have time to sit and blog for a bit about what’s happened so far!

Thank you everyone for your well wishes – we arrived safe and sound at Tokyo!

The plane was really nice – I had so much space that my Rilakkuma even had a platform to himself hahaha

Rilakkuma on Airplane - window view

Descent into Tokyo!

Anyway, for the first two nights, we were in Tokyo, just minutes away from Tokyo Station!

We were kind of in a hurry to get to dinner rather late at night, so we didn’t get to shop but! we did get to check out the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store! Ariel already made a post on this store recently, but it’s really quite incredible to see a Rilakkuma Store in person!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store - front

Will shop here for real soon!

We’re going back to the Tokyo Station area for a day before we leave Japan, so I will be sure to shop there for real next time!

The next day, we went to the Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store!

Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store - front

I got one of those Skytree plushies with all three of the Rilakkuma crew!

Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store - cashier

Paying the Rilakkuma Store workers’ salaries in one fell swoop.

This was the first time we got to spend a great deal of time at the Rilakkuma Store. They had a bunch of Skytree specials (though the Tokyo Station one also sold a few Skytree plushies), and I feel like I circled the store over 20 times analyzing everything before paying and leaving.

I’ll post close-ups of what I bought at a later post (they’re all stowed away in luggage right now booo), but here’s the list of the Skytree haul:

The small 22cm watermelon anniversary plushies were sold out, but there was no shortage of the XL version – I wonder why?

Strangely enough, there were even Halloween 2012 Kiiroitoris still in stock?? Hmmm…

Whew! Then the next day, we ran over to the Harajuku Rilakkuma Store!

Harajuku Rilakkuma Store - front

It’s the Rilakkuma half of the floor! I love how the entrances to each Rilakkuma store is slightly different.

Harajuku Rilakkuma Store - side Korilakkuma

Look who’s hiding on the side!!

Here at Kiddyland, half of the fourth floor is devoted to Rilakkuma! Even the bathroom is painted with a Rilakkuma theme haha

The plushie haul from Harajuku:

They’re gearing up for their anniversary on the 29th – so sad I’ll miss it!!

Finally, on our way out of Osaka, we stopped by the Umeda Rilakkuma Store!

Umeda Rilakkuma Store - front

Hello, Rilakkuma!

Even more plushies to be bought here!

I didn’t even know what the Holiday collab was, or what Holiday even is but I snagged one anyway since I was already there. Turns out it’s some clothing brand haha, so cute!!

I was really shocked to see that they had some of the Fukuoka 3rd Anniversary plushies there (I wasn’t even in Fukuoka!) – guess they had a few left over? I always assumed the anniversary plushies flew off the shelves like hotcakes.

There was also a healthy stock of Rilakkuma apparel that the other branches I visited didn’t have, so my family stocked up on some Rilakkuma shorts haha.

Whew! That’s 4 out of 8 Rilakkuma Stores! I know during the next trip, I’ll have to stop by the Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai, and Kichijoji branches!!

I’ll have to write more when I finally get the time to photograph each of them, but that’s all for now!!

All’s quiet on the Rilakkuma front until the Wonderland release, I’m guessing!