Category Archives: Rilakkuma

Anne in Japan 2014: Rilakkuma Café at Tower Records

And so it begins! In addition to my usual posts, August is going to be dedicated to recapping my two and a half weeks in Tokyo! I went to a bunch of themed cafés, so it only makes sense to get the ball rolling with a post about one of them. I give you… the Rilakkuma Café and collaborative exhibit in Tower Records, Shibuya!

Before I get to the real event, that is, the Rilakkuma Factory Tower Records Café itself, I’d like to briefly recap the cute Rilakkuma x Tower Records collaboration exhibit they had on another floor of the building. It was mostly just a chance for Tower Records to sell limited edition Rilakkuma merchandise, but I got a lot of cute photos!

This whole 8th floor of Tower Records was dedicated to this exhibit! I love the little streamers they hung from the ceiling. Let’s take a closer look at some of the things they had on display…

Lots and lots of merchandise! Luckily, I wasn’t really tempted by any of the collaboration designs, so I was able to save my money. Since this was only my first full day in Japan, I’d say that’s a good thing!

The best part of the exhibit by far were these great cut-outs of Rilakkuma and his buddies, korilakkuma and kiirotori. This one of them looking glam is definitely my favorite!

Does the little yellow bird have Beatles hair, or so that a beret? It’s a shame I was by myself and too shy to ask someone to take my photo, or else I would’ve gotten my picture taken with at least one of these Rilakkumas.

Hard rock bears! Forgive me if I’ve described any of these musical decades by the wrong name, I’m not to up on my popular music genres… I think the reason why I didn’t really like the designs in this exhibit that much is because Rilakkuma isn’t doing what he does best – relaxing!

I actually wasn’t able to visit the café on the same day as the exhibit, as the line was too long. I ended up coming back during a weekday when it (hopefully) wouldn’t be as crowded. I was also able to meet up with a Twitter pal, @abyssviola! It was great to finally meet her in person, and we were able to get into the café after only waiting about 15 minutes or so!

Here’s the inside of the café itself. I love the industrial look of the ceiling, but it was slightly disappointing not to see more Rilakkuma stuff around! Oh wait, I think I see one now…

At least we were lucky enough to get this big Rilakkuma plush at our table! Each table was adorned with some kind or Rilakkuma plush or another (you can see a small one on the table directly behind my head). That was about it for Rilakkuma-related decor, though.

I was too distracted with petting the Rilakkuma plush to take a picture of the menu, but you can see the different items on offer on this sign outside. Since I hadn’t eaten dinner, I decided to go with the only savory item on the menu, the Rilakkuma vegetable curry. I would’ve liked to try one of the desserts, too, but the prices were pretty steep and I was worried I might get too full from the curry, so I ordered the “Rilakkuma Irish milk” instead.

Here’s the adorable Rilakkuma Irish milk drink! I don’t remember it tasting like anything but milk, actually. But it certainly was cute!

Looking back now, this isn’t really that appetizing of a photo, but there you have it! Rilakkuma curry. I love how they fashioned the rice to look like Rilakkuma is lounging in the curry. His “pillow” was made out of an omelet, and the white and tan parts on his body were cheese.

The drink and curry cost me around $20, which in all honesty, was rather disappointing. It felt quite expensive for the amount of food given, even if it was Rilakkuma-themed, and I left the café feeling pretty hungry! I should’ve ordered a dessert! Just for comparison, I got a curry and drink at another nice local café for about $13, which, while not themed, was much more reasonable. I can understand a slight markup, but an additional $7 for the Rilakkuma “experience” seemed rather steep.

I definitely don’t regret going, but as my first themed café excursion, I was left a little underwhelmed. Luckily, I can say that this was probably just an example of an overpriced themed café, as the others I went to later on in my trip were much better value for money. Still, I’m glad to have been able to go, especially since it was only around for the month of July! Thanks to @abyssviola for joining me!

Japan Envy: Rilakkuma x Yamanote Train Line

Nearly every popular character in Japan gets its own themed train at some point, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that Rilakkuma is finally getting his turn on the tracks. While this may not officially be the first time Rilakkuma’s adorable mug has appeared on the side of a Japanese train, I did do some extensive research (aka Googling in Japanese) and couldn’t come up with any previous examples, so I’m going to go ahead and call this Rilakkuma’s big train debut! It’s as wonderful as you’d expect:

official site
This Rilakkuma train collaboration is with the Yamanote Line in Tokyo, an extremely busy and famous line that circles the city and hits nearly every one of its major stations. The train is known for its green color, so of course all of the promotional materials, and the train itself, are a lovely shade of green: 

Not only is the outside covered in cute (just look at the windows!), but the inside is covered in special Rilakkuma posters, as well!
Maracas? 

Rilakkuma himself even came out for the train’s debut! Look closely and you can see the Rilakkuma head silhouette on his hat and the buttons of his jacket. Too cute!

The Rilakkuma train will only be running until August 16th, so if you happen to be in Tokyo, make sure to hop on before it disappears!

Of course, there’s always merchandise for those of us who can’t make it or want a special souvenir of the event…

I’m particularly fond of the train design itself, so I’d kill for one of the file folders or the plush train cell phone strap. Or how about that “train enthusiast” Rilakkuma plush on shown on top left? He’s even carrying a little camera!

So, even though it’s only been less than two months since my trip to Japan, the land of the rising sun continues to give me reasons why I have to go back! I think it’s safe to say these Japan Envy posts won’t be going away anytime soon…

Got a craving for more Rilakkuma after reading this post? Support Chic Pixel by purchasing Rilakkuma products through my affiliate link so I can talk about even more crazy and cute stuff from Japan!

I’m slowly amassing quite the Rilakkuma planner collection

I while back I wrote a post about the lovely Hobonichi Techo, a planner that has quite the following in both Japan and overseas. The community aspect of sharing one’s completed pages and swapping ideas on how to fill the immaculately-designed books totally appeals to me, but after some consideration, I came to the conclusion that I probably won’t be jumping on the Hobonichi Techo bandwagon anytime soon. See, I have a different sort of planner obsession…

Since 2010, I’ve made a point of buying a new Rilakkuma-themed planner every year. Not only am I a huge fan of the bear famed for his love of relaxing (I can really relate), but the colorful illustrations and adorable covers have just been too good to pass up. 

As you can see, I own two different sizes (I believe these are the only sizes the weekly and monthly planners come in, but there are also thinner ones that are just monthly planners). The large size is great if you want to write lots of notes and/or have a busy schedule, but I tend to get a little discouraged when I “waste” pages by not writing in them. On the other hand, the smaller size is just a tad too small… it certainly makes it look like I’m a very busy and important person, but it also means my writing can get a bit cramped. As such, I haven’t decided which I like better! If I keep up my tendency to switch sizes from year to year, I’ll be back to a large size next year. 
I’ve always been a fan of cute and colorful stationary – my motto is, if I like looking at it, I’ll be more inclined to use it. And boy, do I like looking at these planners! They never cease to put a smile on my face. 
In the interest personalization, I usually try to decorate the monthly pages with cutouts and stickers. Here are a couple samples from my old planners: 

Each month is themed differently – as you can see, February 2010 had a distinct strawberry theme. The theme carries through to the weekly pages, as well, and generally each week has a different illustration of Rilakkuma or one of his companions floating around somewhere.

The larger sizes also have this monthly planning section that I almost never use, unfortunately. More importantly, look at that Rilakkuma eating a donut! I do believe he’s blushing. 

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Japanese planner without some kind of extra goodies at the back. There are generally a few memo pages, as well as Japanese train line maps (very handy if you live in Japan), a personal info page, and some additional oddities that changes from year to year. Can you guess what the page on the right is?

Well, there you have it. Four years, four planners. Will I buy a Rilakkuma planner for 2014? You can bet on it!

Japan Envy: Pizza Delivery Chain Tie-in Merchandise

Here’s another thing about Japan that will stump me for all eternity: American pizza chains are actually cooler over there than they are in their home country! Sure, some may argue that squid ink pizza doesn’t sound all that appetizing, but this time I’m not talking about the pizza itself, but rather all the awesome freebie tie-in merchandise American chains like Pizza Hut and Domino’s get in the land of the rising sun.

First of all, here’s what spurred me to write this post in the first place: Pizza Hut is currently having a campaign until October 21st where if you buy a kid’s crispy pizza, you get a Rilakkuma bowl for free:

200 lucky customers will get their pizza in that adorable box!

For the curious, the pizza contains the following ingredients: sausage, sliced potato, corn, parsley, mayonnaise, and tomato sauce. As it’s a kid’s size, it’s only 15 cm big, but is priced pretty reasonably at 500 yen (about $6.40). More importantly (why would anyone order Pizza Hut for the food?), here’s the bowl that comes free with every purchase:

official site

Unlike a lot of these campaigns, obtaining the bowl isn’t a matter of buying x amount of kid’s pizzas to collect stamps or points, but you’ll actually get a bowl with your very first order. If you’re a sucker like me who’d want to have both bowls, it’d still only set you back about $13 –– a pretty good deal for two little pizzas and two adorable bowls, if you ask me!

Though it pains me that I can’t partake in this awesome campaign, I think this is a fine occasion to share my own pizza delivery tie-in merchandise experience. And what better franchise to feature a tie-in than with Pokémon?!

This Pokémon x Domino’s Pizza campaign was going on back when I was in Japan in 2009, and my host mother was sweet enough to order me one! And it came with not one, but two awesome freebies:

Plastic tote bag – front
Plastic tote bag – back (note the Domino’s logo and the Arceus;
this promotion coincided with the release of the film Arceus
and the Jewel of Life
An adorable pouch! I use it to carry my camera 
Close-up of pouch detail

Oh, I have no doubt moving back to Japan would make me go broke… from buying so many pizzas for their adorable freebies!

Vintage Finds: Talking Pikachu and… Rilakkuma?

I haven’t done a “Vintage Finds” post in quite a while, but that isn’t due to lack of awesome finds. In fact, I just scored a 50 cent grater the other day, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite kitchen utensils (freshly grated cheese! shredded vegetables!). But really, does anyone care? I figure this blog would be a lot more interesting to read if I had, at the very least, a hint of an overarching theme (it’s Japan-related stuff if you’re wondering). So no posts about cheese graters! But I did find some things yesterday that fit my self-imposed theme perfectly, so today marks the long-awaited return of the “Vintage Finds” series!

Let me tell you, there’s nothing better than walking 5 minutes down the street from your house to the local vintage shop to see what treasures it holds. I generally stop by once a week to see what new items they have, and every once in a while, I find something that I just have to have. Yesterday, Shaun and I ran into not one, but two items hailing from the land of the rising sun! 
You always have to wonder how a random Japanese toy such as a talking plastic Pikachu (above) makes its way to a moderately-sized suburb in Australia. And in such good condition! Interestingly, though it has a speaker on its back and a place to insert a battery, it doesn’t have any buttons or anything to indicate exactly how it works. I’m going to get a replacement battery soon so I can try it out and see if it actually works. But I wouldn’t be fussed if it was broken. That little pink poffin he’s holding is too cute! 
The next item we spotted (actually, though Shaun was with me, I’ll take all the credit for finding these treasures) was this handsome Rilakkuma doll. If you’re a frequenter of this blog, then you already know how much I adore Rilakkama (and if you don’t, now you do!). Funnily enough, it’s still got the tag, which indicates that the strap was manufactured in Japan in 2004. The previous owner took the liberty to blot out the suggested retail price, but I’m sure the $5 we paid for it is probably just as much, if not more, than what it cost originally. Honestly, though, it looks brand new! 
For now, these two fellows will join my other assorted treasures, but Shaun’s determined to put the Rilakkuma keychain on one of his bags, which I will begrudgingly allow when the time comes. Seriously, though, I kid. It’s nice to keep things looking pristine, but it’s also nice to use them as they were intended. 
Can you name all of the characters on my shelf? (two are duplicates, and the white rabbits and red thing between Pikachu and Rilakkuma don’t count) Hint: all are video game characters. First person to get them right gets a random sticker from my collection (hey, I’ve got some good ones!). 
Update: Ok, it’s come to my attention more than once that I’m losing serious Japanophile cred for not having any totoros in the above picture. But when did I ever say that was my whole collection? My totoros (oh yes, I have more than one) have a shelf of their own:

Japan Envy: Rilakkuma Hot Cake Kit Kats

I haven’t done my Japan Envy column in a while and have gained a few new followers around the new year (thanks to all of you!), so just a quick recap: Japan Envy is my (ir)regular column where I talk about cool things/happenings that are only available in Japan that make me jealous or pine for the days when I used to live there. You can head here or click the “Japan Envy” tag at the end of this post to view previous entries in the series!

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Anyone familiar with Japan has probably heard about how the nation is famous for its wide variety of flavored Kit Kats. They’ve got everything from regional specialties, such as yuzu and pepper Kit Kats from Nagoya, to limited editions and seasonal flavors. Why these are only available in Japan and why other nations have caught on to this ingenious idea? We may never know, but foreigners have been fascinated with Japan’s unique take on the humble Kit Kat since its inception. You can even find a Japanese Kit Kat episode on NPR (complete with tastings and audio!), and at least two blogs dedicated entirely to cataloging the huge range of flavors available.

I bet you’re wondering what flavors I’ve tried, eh? Well, I’ve sampled everything from ginger ale to jasmine tea Kit Kats, but I still have a long way to go if I ever hope to live my dream of being the ultimate Kit Kat connoisseur (one of my many aspirations). Currently, I’ve got my eye on a very particular Kit Kat, one that combines my love of flavored Kit Kats with another one of my favorite things: the adorable teddy bear who loves to relax known as Rilakkuma.

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What flavor are these Kit Kats? None other than Rilakkuma’s favorite snack, the humble pancake (or “hot cake,” as they’re known in Japan). I, for one, imagine this Kit Kat tastes pretty darn good! If you’re wondering why the box is a strange shape, that’s because it’s not simply a regular Kit Kat bar, but rather 12 individually-wrapped mini Kit Kats (Japan loves miniature things).

If you’re interested in trying some Japanese Kit Kats yourself without having to pay for the plane ticket, you can go to JBox to grab a few interesting flavors such as green tea, wasabi, and black honey (now that sounds good!). What flavor would you be most interested to try?