San-X

**San—X** (サンエックス, *San Ekkusu*) is the company responsible for creating and producing Sumikko Gurashi. They are a Japanese company known for creating and marketing cute characters such as Tarepanda, Rilakkuma, and Sumikko Gurashi. The characters are usually anthropomorphic representations of animals or inanimate objects.

## Company Profile Statement

We continue to create over 1,000 100% original characters such as Rilakkuma, Sumikko Gurashi, Tare Panda, etc., and deliver their mysterious charm to the world through original products, licensing business, various events, promotions, videos, etc. Although they look cute, they have a surreality that makes you laugh, and the characters have a gentleness that touches your heart and envelops you. San-X characters are not only cute, but they also attract many people.

## San-X Structure

San-X employs designers like Yuri Yokomizo (the creator of Sumikkogurashi) who create original characters. The characters created by the design department are then turned into products after marketing by the Product Planning Department, which is then sold to stores nationwide by the Sales Department. The ``design room'' mainly creates characters. Our in-house designers create 100% original characters.

The lineage of designers has been passed down within the company, as in the case where the author of Tare Panda was enrolled as a lecturer at Yokomizo's university, which she attended because of her love for the product. Yuri Yokomizo said that she fell in love with Tare Panda when she was in the fourth grade of elementary school.

## San-X Characters

San-X's characters are characterized by not being very lively. They don't do anything big, but they are mysterious beings that make you feel at ease just by being around them.

Its strength is that you can dig deep into the backgrounds of the characters and enjoy them, The main feature is that there are a lot of mysteries.Most of them don't have birthdays or genders, and the voices are also different. There's a lot of room for the user's imagination,
For example, Sumikkogurashi. At the time, flashy and colorful characters were all over the place, but what about penguins? When they appeared as a single picture, it seems that there was a feeling of ``This looks good.''
Mr. Kirino sums it up by saying, ``When it comes to the concept and outline of a hit work, we take very seriously the initial idea and refine it.We live in a world where you can't survive by simply saying, ``You're cute.'' In other words, even those loose characters are part of the elite that have survived.

The unveiling of new characters does not rely on advertisements in newspapers or television. Mr. Suzuki emphasized, ``Since displaying it as merchandise in stores is a promotion, it has to attract people's attention at first sight.' San-X characters generally do not speak (although they do speak in the text). For this reason, it is said that the most important thing is ``appearance'' that can move people's feelings, and it is a test of skill

## San-X History

San-X's headquarters in Kanda, Tokyo is located in a somber building that you might not be able to tell at first glance if you are creating a character.

### The Beginning - 1932

The company began in April 1932 as Chida Handler, a private store founded by the late Anzo Chida (who passed away in 1983 at the age of 78). When the company was founded, it was a company that made and sold ingenious stationery and envelopes, and its customers at the time were mainly stationery stores. After that, it became a limited liability company in 1941 and became a stock company in 1957.

### Becoming San-X - 1973

It was in 1973 that the name was changed to "San-X". The origin of the name has not been revealed.

#### Bobby Soxer & Aquamarine

Then, in 1980, exactly 40 years ago, two works with character elements came out. One was a 1950s American pop-style design called ``Bobby Soxer,'' and the other was a series of sea-themed characters called ``Aquamarine.'' A wide range of items were sold, from stationery to miscellaneous goods, and both were hits.

#### Pinny Moo, Kaiju Paradise

After that, characters began to appear, such as 1987's ``Pinny Moo'' and 1988's ``Kaiju Paradise.'' Kaiju Paradise has an easy-to-understand look that is slightly different from the current image of the so-called "San-X characters." At that time, it is said that there was a demand for characters that were simpler and more "cute" than today's characters.

#### 1989 - Discovering the Male Market

A character like this also appeared. It was 1989's "Sparks." For example, in the case of notebooks, you can enjoy manga and games on all 32 pages, and all of Sparks' products are elaborately made. The idea of ​​allowing players to play with actually usable products such as notebooks and pencil cases was a rare attempt at the time. It was mainly popular among elementary school boys. Up until then, the company had been relatively targeting women, but this gave them an opportunity to become aware of male users as well.

However, up to this point, the company's main focus was stationery. It will still be a while before characters become the main focus like they are now.

#### 1998 - Tare Panda & The Transition From Stationary to Characters

Tare Panda, which debuted independently in 1998, became the starting point for its role as a character maker. Before the appearance of Tare Panda, the company was only dealing in stationery, but from here on it entered a new field of ``stuffed animals''. Twenty years later, stuffed animals and household goods now account for about 60-70% of sales. Up until then, in addition to characters, we had also commercialized patterns and logo designs, but as we were allocating limited human resources, characters naturally became the main focus.

### 1999 - 2000

After that, titles such as ``Bulbul Dog'', ``Kogepan'', ``Nyan Nyan Nyanko'', ``Mikan Boya'', and ``Afro Dog'' appeared in the two years between 1999 and 2001.

#### 2003 - Rilakkuma

Then, in 2003, "Rilakkuma" appeared. She is a long-selling character and has grown to the point where you can still see her everywhere. Her popularity is not limited to Japan, but she has also held events overseas in Asia, Europe, America, and other countries.

## References

[1] San-X - Wikipedia

1. ↑ Kageyama (11). ネガティブでも人生は大丈夫　すみっコぐらし・よこみぞゆりさん諭す (Japanese). withnews.jp. Retrieved on October 20, 2023.
2. ↑ Kageyama (20). San-X's values ​​that changed "Tare Panda" are handed down to the creator of Sumikko (Japanese). withnews.jp. Retrieved on October 20, 2023.