In the summer of 2002, Shinada company launched the magical fumofumo san in Japan. Since then, their design team have continued to create many many more fumofumo san. ありがとうございます.
At first, there were only six different fumofumo san. They are the monkey, tiger, bear, rabbit, cat, and panda. The tiger, bear, and cat looks rather similar in my opinion, but if you pay enough attention to the details, you can tell the nuance differences in them.
Over the next many years, Shinada continues to launch new designs regularly. Today, there are at least 50 different types of fumofumo san, and this number does not included the special additions they created for some of their existing fumofumo san. Most of these fumofumo san draw inspirations from animals (frog, penguin, kangaroo, giraffe, mole, owl, pigs, etc) but in some rare cases, you will also see imaginary creatures such as the kappa (河童), the snowman, the cloud where the fumofumo san are suppose to reside and many more. The funniest one, also the one I never understood is the hatena? (はてな？) and misuhatena (ミスはてな？). My Japanese friend told me this means question and unknown... So, for now I guess I just will leave it as that..
Keroonyo (けろーにょ)
fufu (ふふ), makemo (まはも), momosuutsu (モモスーツ)
mugugu (もぐぐ)
So, who is your favorite fumofumo san? My favorite is mugugu (むぐぐ) the mole. If you haven't found your favorite one or the animal you like is not out there yet, there is a very high chance that the Shinada company is working on it right now, so stay tune!
In the mean time, I highly recommend the following link: http://www.shinada.net/fumofumo/report/report.html. It's a very interesting link where people share pictures they have taken with their fumofumo san. The theme usually evolves around traveling. This really reminds me of the movie Amélie and the gnomes that were brought around the world.
Side note: The more I look at the snowman, the more I think it looks like mugugu, don't you think?
(All the images are taken from http://www.shinada.net)
Ohh... Moles are the best. I am so glad I am a mole.
ReplyDeleteWhy are your office hours only half an hour long? Is Big Mole in charge?
- Little Mole
Why hasn't there been another post in so long?? I want to know more about moles!!!!
ReplyDeleteKeroonyo is my daughter's favorite... but how can I find a new fumo fumo san when I came back in France ? An idea ?
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for these guys FOREVER! I purchased a momosuutsu plushie from Tokyu Hands back in 2006 when I was in Tokyo and lost it. Been looking to replace him forever and never knew what these were called! Can you tell me where I can order them online? The one I had was white with pink hearts. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI also bought a monkey and am trying to replace it but seems almost impossible. I did come across the humohumo san series of stuffed animals at a souvenier shop in Hakata stayion in Fukuoka, and bought some there, but couldn't find another monkey.
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