雪ダルマちゃん (Yukidaruma chan) is the name given for a group of extremely cute and soft looking snowmen designed by Shinada for the Winter of 2008.
雪 (yuki) means snow
雪ダルマ (yukidaruma) means snowman
ちゃん (chan) is often used behind a child's name. SO in this case it sounded like "the little snowman".
雪ダルマちゃん came in five different sizes, and six variations of colours. The largest one is as tall as 50 cm! Can you imagine cuddling with this half meter snowman? Ever since their appearance, different versions of these lovely snowman were also launched.
雪ダルマちゃんカラーシリーズ (Yukidaruma chan colour)2008
雪ダルマちゃん変身 (Yukidarama chan henshin <-makeover)2008 and 2010
雪ダルマちゃんfor you (Yukidaruma chan for you)2009
There are just so many possibilities with these snowmen! Keep them coming! Unfortunately, I still couldn't get a hold on one of these lovely mochi* looking creatures, so I will just have to satisfy myself in my dream.....
*mochi - sticky rice delicacy, a type of Japanese dessert.
picture taken from
http://www.shinada.net/.
