Shopping Guide
Since the beginning of September, the new product exhibition Sanrio Expo 2014 put on by Sanrio, a company with a plethora of famous characters including Hello Kitty, has been ongoing. The exhibit, which showcases roughly 2,500 products, most of them new, by Sanrio licensee companies, was held in Tokyo from Sept. 9-12 and will be held in Osaka on Sept. 25 and 26. The attendance rate for both venues is forecast to be around 9,700, the same as when it was held in February of this year.
Eight areas were set up within Osaki Gate City Hall, the location of the Tokyo exhibit. Booths were set up for each different department including the licensing department, sales department, and planning department. A great variety of products were introduced including licensed products from the worlds of cosmetics, medicine, and candy, products for convenience stores, products to promote store sales, products for public enterprise, and more.
A booth was also open to the public that transmitted the character worlds of My Melody and Little Twin Stars together with the concept and key visual for next year’s 40th anniversary for these characters. Products themed after each character were displayed in great numbers. There was also a booth for Kirimi-chan, who won first place in the Food Character General Election, and Gudetama, who won second in the same ranking. Hello Kitty’s first men’s apparel brand, Hello Kitty Men, launched, and they had a booth that utilized man models.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
