Japanese Inspired Brands!

© Tado 2010.

 Japanese Inspired Brands.

As a Japanophile you're always on the alert for cute new Japanese gadgets to accessorize your life with (and show off). There's a double-take moment that happens when you're walking along, least expecting it, and out of the corner of your eye scope a cute big eyed animated character. You've gotta check it out.

Cute beyond belief? Check.
Weird as all hell? Check.
Unnecessarily necessary? You bet.

And your first impression is, "Well naturally this must be a Japanese owned/created company", but you're wrong!

You no longer have to be Japa-neeza to be successful in the world of cute character art. A little inspiration can go a long way - right Simone Legno?

It's hard NOT think of Tokidoki first when talking about successful Japanaese Inspired Brands (JIB's). For the longest time I assumed Tokidoki was an out-of-Japan brand that made it into the US market, after all "Tokidoki" (時々) is Japanese for "sometimes", so imagine my surprise when I find out an Italian man was behind all the mafia milk carton cuteness. 

© Tokidoki

For an Italian company (really what it is), this JIB is pretty darn successful.  Recently Tokidoki has collaborated with Onitsuka Tiger (Japanese shoe company) and has put out their own makeup line at Sephora! Not to mention it's put its foot, arm, and head in the door with its Hello Kitty x Tokidoki collab.

Besides the obvious, "Anime" answer, I want to know, where did Simone get the "Tokidoki" idea, how did it all start?
To find out check out these websites for first person interview info!

• TheDivaReview
• DeanFreelance 

NOTE: Simone Legno will be at NYCC! *fangirlsqueal*

Speaking of European brands, there are two more JIB's I'd like to mention - Pylones (France) and Tado (UK).

© Tado

Now I'll start off with Tado because I can't really remember how I came across it - it was just on my screen one day. My intentions were to look into it further and perhaps blog about my finding, but it managed to disappear from my collection of browser tabs and I forgot it. A few weeks ago I visited KidRobot and to my surprise, there it was! TADO toys - small figures, gashapon size. I had to google and give them a more thorough examination.
Unlike Tokidoki, Tado creates its own version of already existing Asian characters like a panda, daruma ningyo, and maneki neko (the money cat).  Behind all the cute-ness is Mike and Katie the creators of Tado - the owners of what I'd deem a successful JIB. Toys at KidRobot and ads with Virgin [airlines]? Yes, TADO, you are successful!

© Pylones

Pylones was also a stumble-upon, literally. (Walking around SoHo can only lead to good things.)
Their window display is what sucked me in. It looked Japanese inspired but not quite. In their "About Us" section on their site, there's no mention of Japan, but I'd encourage you to take a look. The look might suggest otherwise.
My impression of Pylones is that it's a brand that sells cuter, wackier versions of everyday items, part of the reason it was hard to get out of the store empty handed.


This blog topic got me thinking about some of the clothing brands that I like and if they're also JIB's. Would LuckyBrand count? Before Jimmyz went out of business, I was obsessed with their Japanese print t-shirts; does that count?
What are some of your favorite Japanese Inspired Brands? I'd love to learn about others and hear more about the ones I've mentioned!

Until next time!
Ja mata ( ' w ' )/

La Tenoli