Tarepanda (たれぱんだ) is a cute panda character owned by the company San-X サンエックス (San Ekkusu). The term "tare" (垂れ) means "droopy" in Japanese. [1]
Tarepanda is licensed by San-X, the company that introduced Tarepanda stickers in 1995. It was designed by Hikaru Suemasa ( ja:末政ひかる) and was inspired when she was being tired.
Tarepanda is a character that moves by rolling over, with a record speed of 2.75 m/h. [1] [2] Tarepanda's favorite food is mochi (餅), especially suama (寿甘). [1] [3]
In February 1998, San-X launched Tarepanda erasers and letter pads, which proved enormous hits. San-X believed these products were successful because they were released shortly after the Asian financial crisis of autumn 1997, a time when many people in Japan were facing layoffs and, consequently, were sympathetic toward a "worn-out" panda character. [4] Sales of Tarepanda goods exceeded ¥30 billion ($291 million) in the first few months of its release. [5] [4] It became Japan's seventh top-grossing character of 1999, generating ¥66.36 billion ($583 million) in merchandise sales that year, [6] [7] adding up to ¥96.36 billion ($874 million) merchandise sales in Japan by 1999.
Tarepanda was a major hit in Japan. It has appeared on annual retail sales charts published by Character Databank, a Japanese character sales monitoring firm, as of 2010 [update]. [8] It was rated one of the most popular characters in Japan for its cuteness.
Sales of the toy passed ¥30 billion (US$291 million) in the first few months of its release.
Tarepanda (たれぱんだ) is a cute panda character owned by the company San-X サンエックス (San Ekkusu). The term "tare" (垂れ) means "droopy" in Japanese. [1]
Tarepanda is licensed by San-X, the company that introduced Tarepanda stickers in 1995. It was designed by Hikaru Suemasa ( ja:末政ひかる) and was inspired when she was being tired.
Tarepanda is a character that moves by rolling over, with a record speed of 2.75 m/h. [1] [2] Tarepanda's favorite food is mochi (餅), especially suama (寿甘). [1] [3]
In February 1998, San-X launched Tarepanda erasers and letter pads, which proved enormous hits. San-X believed these products were successful because they were released shortly after the Asian financial crisis of autumn 1997, a time when many people in Japan were facing layoffs and, consequently, were sympathetic toward a "worn-out" panda character. [4] Sales of Tarepanda goods exceeded ¥30 billion ($291 million) in the first few months of its release. [5] [4] It became Japan's seventh top-grossing character of 1999, generating ¥66.36 billion ($583 million) in merchandise sales that year, [6] [7] adding up to ¥96.36 billion ($874 million) merchandise sales in Japan by 1999.
Tarepanda was a major hit in Japan. It has appeared on annual retail sales charts published by Character Databank, a Japanese character sales monitoring firm, as of 2010 [update]. [8] It was rated one of the most popular characters in Japan for its cuteness.
Sales of the toy passed ¥30 billion (US$291 million) in the first few months of its release.