There are many kawaii products for home. Some kawaii products may have a practical use but all kawaii things can be used as decoration even if the items do not. Most of the pictures in this post will involve Rilakkuma items. Rilakkuma which means “relax bear” is a very popular and famous character in Japan. Since he is very popular, there have been many products created with him.

The name of the character is Kiirotori which means “yellow bird” in Japanese and he is a friend of Rilakkuma. The big one is actually a coin bank while the mini ones are rubber figures. The big blue octopus-like creature in the blog banner is a coin bank as well. Coin banks would be a way to add some kawaii items to the home that have a practical use. Figures can be used to enhance the display.

There are a variety of cute house ware products such as cups, containers, pots, pans, plates. These are plates can be used for display or for serving food. I find it hard to use these plates the design on it is very nice and it would be covered up by food if it were to be used. The one on the left is one of my favorite plates because the way Rilakkuma is eating the doughnut is very funny.

I really like this dango-shaped plate. It would be really creative and fun to use this plate to display food. It is always good to purchase plates of different shapes because it can be used to enhance the display of food. The salt and pepper shakers would also a fun addition to the dinner table.

Out of all the kawaii housewares, cups are the most commonly made house ware products. These are one of my favorite cups. The cups are designed to look like a Rilakkuma cupcake which was part of one of their sweets series. The head is cover of the cup and it can be removed when you need to use the cup.

This is a mobile phone holder that I like. There is a opening in the middle of the cup where the phone can be placed. It can be a useful decoration for your desk. I do not drink coffee but I purchased this because I found it amusing and it is an item that many coffee drinkers can relate to.

This night light would nice to have near your bed or in the living room. It makes a nice decoration for the table even if the the light is not on. Items like these are great for children’s rooms since the light is small and dim.

These glasses stand are one of my favorite products. You can place your glasses or sunglasses on them and it gives them a funny look.

Kawaii photo frames are one my favorite items to collect. There is usually a lot creativity that goes into making photo frames. The photo frames here are bear-shaped heads. There are also photo frames designed as benches, bicyles, ferris wheels. Even the photo albums are nice to have for your photos.

There also kawaii products related to plants. The pots above are filled with glittery sand and a mini cactus plant. The pots have a simple cute look that would look great even in simple modern styled homes with a good amount of sunlight. I really wanted this but I was worried that it would be damaged when it is being transported from Japan and how it might be affected by weather over here.

There are also items for the seasons, holidays or events. These items are called “hagoitas” which are wooden paddles that were used to play a game. These items are generally used as decorations now and are designed with more decorative themes in mind like the ones in the picture. These are usually found in Japanese festivals or fairs around December.

These mini Christmas tree displays would be great to use during Christmas. I have also seen mini wreaths that would be great additions to the walls during Christmas. There are also fake Christmas trees sets of these characters that can be set up for displays just like regular Christmas trees but with a cute theme.

Did you know? There have been Rilakkuma themed hotel rooms that were available for auction. The one shown in the picture was designed with “Luxury-style relaxation rest plan” in mind. I am not sure how much it sold for but the starting bid varied from $275-$386 a night depending on the location.

Would you like live like this?

ヾ(｡･´ω｀･)ﾉ【ﾟo｡HOME SWEET HOME｡oﾟ】ヽ(･´ω｀･｡)ﾉﾞ

As much as kawaii collectors love collecting cute items there is also a fascination with collecting cute items that have some relation with food. It is very common to find kawaii items that combine cute characters with food. Sweets such as cakes, cookies, chocolates and other kind of desserts are commonly used.

These are some stationery that portray how food is commonly used with the kawaii theme. Food can be turned into kawaii characters. Food can designed into kawaii characters. Most commonly, food is used as theme or background to accompany kawaii characters.

The onsen manju figures and usadango figures are an example of how food can be used or combined to form characters. Manjus and dangos are japanese sweet food items while “onsen” means hot spring and “usa” means rabbit.

I like making displays when I have free time and I put this together for a friend’s birthday. The miniature food pieces used in the display are dollhouse miniatures that came from different sets from Re-Ment and Megahouse. There are many people that collect these miniature items to use for displays and many of them do not have an interest in dolls or using them for dollhouses. Their interest is simply in making their own displays of tiny realistic items.

Re-Ment which stands for “Reform the Entertainment” is a company that makes many dollhouse miniature items. Most of their miniatures are food items and the company has been doing collaborations with famous characters such as Disney, Hello Kitty, and Rilakkuma. The company has also created tables, bakery display stands, paper fold-up props that can be used with their miniature pieces. The company is very creative with designing the pieces and it is hard for these displays to not catch the attention of someone walking by.

There also many people who are interested in making crafts related to food and the kawaii theme. This is a part of the hobby known as decoden where people make embellishments. They use a variety of clay, molds, stickers, cabochans and other acrylic pieces. The designs, colors, and pieces show a really good example of the relationship between food and kawaii culture.

The kawaii theme has been used in foods as shown in the picture. These kawaii bento boxes are really amazing. I would like to make one some day but I think it is very time consuming and complex. There are various shapers, molds, picks, partitions, stencils, and cookie cutters available for people to enhance or make food look cute. There are also special mini pancake pans and toasters that can make bear-shaped pancakes and character imprinted toasts.

The clipping features a Rilakkuma cookie-making class. There are cookie cutters that allow people to make these cute designed cookies. I tend to avoid baking because I never had much luck with it unlike cooking but I would be interested in making these cute cookies. I made bear cookies one time but they ended up becoming pregnant bear cookies. I mean literally the bear cookies looked pregnant (with just the tummies popping out). Since I messed up on the ingredients the cookies did not taste so good either but I think if the cookies tasted good they would be great to serve in baby showers.

There are many areas where kawaii culture can influence and food is a big part of it. Kawaii culture brings the creativity and imagination that can allow people to enjoy life in a colorful and fun way. The Modern Toilet Restaurant is an example of that. The restaurant has a toilet theme which gives customers a unique experience through drinks in urinal cups, toilet seats, meals served in toilet seats, and the other toilet designed features.

Do you find this tasty? (*¬*)

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd every year.  I thought it would be fitting to make a post about how kawaii culture can play a role in helping the environment. Sora Bears, also known as Solar Bears, are characters that are playing a role in helping the environment.

Their Story
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=191266867569509
Far away at the North Pole lives two polar bear brothers. The older one is named Bea and the younger one is named Sora. Bea and Sora are crying because they were separated from their mother after the melting ice cap led to gaps in the ice caused by the rising temperature of the Earth’s surface. They are determined to find their mother one day so that they can live together as a family again.

I am not sure if the story accurately describes the issue that polar bears face because of global warming. I watched a video on global warming that mentioned how polar bears are affected by the melting of the ice. Polar bears need the ice in order to hunt for their food so the melting of the ice makes it much more difficult for them to survive. However, this story is written for children so the separation of a family would probably communicate to them more effectively.

The Sora Bear Fund is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote the spread of renewable energy. Their mission is to develop activities to educate people about the environment and renewable energy in order to deal with the problem of global warming. I think it is a good organization because I believe that bringing awareness about the environment and educating people can really help the environment. I think it is a great idea that they focus on educating young children because it will allow them to develop environmentally friendly habits that they could possibly continue as they grow up.

Sora Bears was designed by Shinzi Katoh and there products created from these characters. Sora Bear items can be purchased from his website and a few other shops but small percentage of the sales will be donated to the Sora Bear Fund. I did not know anything about these characters when I first bought items of these characters. I bought them because I thought the characters were cute and interesting. I did not even know the name of the characters but I would often wonder why the bears were crying. When I found out about Sora Bears it made me really glad that I was able to get them. I have bought a few more Sora Bear items since then but the items are rare and may be a little expensive. I love cute things but I love cute things even more when there is some kind of meaning or story behind it.

The use of cute characters with a meaningful story can grab people’s attention and raise awareness about issues. Bea and Sora also go around to places and their outfits catches the attention of people. They are appealing to people because there are people that want to touch them and take pictures with them. There is a statue of Sora Bears in Tokyo, Japan and it would be a great to visit it. Their tears light up! I hope their story will encourage people to support and help the environment.

I think everyone can do something to help the environment. Even small things such as turning off the water when you are not using it, disposing your garbage properly, and using less plastic can help.

A little change can make a difference. ^O^V

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