Japanese Supermarket Stars: Veggie Characters!

22 Oct 2007 Category: Features, Japan, Products

Japanese Supermarket Stars: Veggie Characters!

A stout pumpkin king with dapper bow tie! We found this cute Okhotsk Pumpkin at the “Foodshow” in the Shibuya train station building. Grown in the natural environment of Abashiri, Hokkaido, he undoubtedly IS the king of all squashes!

While browsing the aisles of the Japanese supermarket around our corner, our eyes came across some fresh veggies – only the tomato had a grinning mouth and big cute eyes, and the squash had spindly arms and legs. Looking around the vegetable stand, we noticed that these characters are all over the place! Do these precious little labels come from the meticulous Japanese mentality that seeks to decorate every detail, or might it be from the deep-rooted manga culture? Oh no, it’s simply a way for Japanese kids to enjoy eating their veggies! Today, PingMag would like to introduce you to some bizarre but super cute edible characters.

Written by Ryoko and Chiemi
Photos by Ayana Watanabe and Ryoko
Translated by Natsumi Yamane

Fruities

Let’s start with Satsuma tangerines, from Ehime Prefecture. On the label for “Nishiuwa Satsumas,” produced by JA Nishiuwa, the local agricultural cooperative, we found a tangerine character with freckles and a leaf on top of its head. How adorable! Meanwhile, “Tensui Mikan” from Kumamoto Prefecture has widely-spaced eyes, which is an element common to many cute characters. Just think of Hello Kitty! In some ways, these two can be seen as the epitome of Japanese vegetable characters.


Genki looking Nishiuwa Satsumas from JA Nishiuwa in the Ehime prefecture.

Tensui Satsumas from JA Tamana in Kumamoto Prefecture. We wonder, though, why they have different coloured eyebrows… Orange punks?

Kiwi imported by Zespri International Japan Ltd. have co-starred with the popular model Moe Oshikiri and Junichi Kawamoto from the comedy unit Jicho Kacho in the past - that’s why they can be called celebrities of the fruit character world. This hairy, greenish fellow offers to cut himself in half as serving suggestion. Argh!

The kiwi character from Zespri International Japan Ltd. has neatly parted his hair. Sweet!

Veggies

The soft white scallions produced in the Saru district of Hidaka, Hokkaido have a larger proportion of the white section and much softer texture compared to ordinary Welsh onions. Of course, it tastes umai (“delicious” in Japanese), whether it’s grilled or fried. Thus, the character was cutely named Umanegi-kun, with kun indicating that this is a good buddy! Finely chopped, it makes a perfect garnish for Ramen too.

“Nako-chan” the cheerful aubergine (eggplant) from Kochi is one of the eleven vegetable siblings by Takashi Yanase, the creator of the ubiquitous Anpanman, who is incidentally also from the same prefecture. “Nako-chan” and her brothers and sisters are all introduced at Kochi Hyakusai’s company website. Make sure to check them out, especially if you’re an ardent Anpanman fan!


“Umanegi-kun,” the white scallion character from Hokkaido, such a friendly pal!

“Nako-chan,” the cheerful aubergine by Kochi Hyakusai.

Surprisingly, the most competitive vegetable character seems to be myoga. Tosa-born “Tosakko Myoga-chan” is a high-spirited character, and depending on the season we can see him/her (?) taking part in various activities, such as playing football and joining the Yosakoi Dance Festival – one of the three major festivals of Shikoku island. In case you are wondering what Myoga tastes like: It has a distinct aroma and slightly pungent flavour.

The fashionable “Tosakko Myoga-chan” by JA Tosa Kuroshio changes costumes and activities according to the season - here we see him/her running. Sporty!

Another Myoga character from Kochi prefecture by Akaoka Seika Ichiba - seemingly totally excited about the QR code that can be read by a mobile phone. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find out his/her name…

“Myo-chan,” the coquettish myoga by Kochi Hyakusai, has an extravagant hairdo.

Lettuce In Love

“Holettuce” lettuce has an interesting name, it is a play on the Japanese word horeru which means “to fall in love,” and is especially used in the dialect of Ibaragi prefecture where this leafy green comes from. When the spring lettuce is dispatched in March, the producers also hold a campaign to “express affection with lettuce recipes” to tie-in with White Day. And of course, the character is holding a heart under one arm, watching shopping mums with a romantic expression on his face….

Squinting Holettuce produced by JA Group Ibaragi. A hopeless romantic, holding a big heart by his breast. Intoxicated by his love for shoppers?

From JA Namegata in Namegata, Ibaragi Prefecture, comes a sweet and fruity tomato with a chubby face, “Frutica.” We must admit that the picture of bright red tomato character blushing and getting even redder is quite cute. By the way, JA Namegata also produces high quality rice called Umai with, of course, a rice grain character. Have a look at that as well.

The chubby-faced “Frutica” by JA Namegata is a tomato with a fruity flavour and texture. And a nice green suit - or whatever that might be.

At JA Akita Kita, we found a rather rare character of Tonburi. This type of edible seed is often known as the caviar of the fields because of its popping texture and colour. This tonburi character is a bespectacled doctor in a white coat, probably because Tonburi is also used to treat urinary disorders in Chinese medicine…

A veggie doctor to treat certain bodily disorders… The character for “Tonburi,” sometimes known as the caviar of the fields.

Veggie Heroes

Okayama prefecture is famous for its association with the legend of a hero called Momotaro. Surely, the “Okayama Black Edamame” character just has to be dressed like Momotaro himself!

An update on the Momotaro legend called Kuromaru Bintaro from JA Zennoh Okayama.

The smiling round-shaped character below is based on a potato, and is called “Ojagamaru,” representing a fish dumpling with rich potato flavour. Yummy!

A smiling fish dumpling with potato flavour HAS to look like this: “Ojagamaru,” a product by Fushimi Kamaboko in Niigata.

Interestingly enough, competitiveness seems to be in the nature of veggie characters. So, along with the Myoga we met earlier, we have some sweet but clever chestnuts, so here are the surprising looking “Kuchan” and “Ricchan” from Okasan Shokuhin. The first parts of their names make kuri which means chestnut in Japanese. Next to them is an anonymous “Smiling Chestnut” from Banrai Foods.

An assortment of sweet chestnuts characters: The “Kuchan” and “Ricchan” pair and the smiling chestnut.

Team Mushroom

And lastly, we have a series of mushroom characters called “Kinoko-gumi,” or “Team Mushroom,” from the Hokuto Corporation in Nagano prefecture. According to Hokuto’s spokesperson, the characters were initially created to make mums and their kids more familiar with mushrooms. Since then, there have been numerous requests for a “Kinoko-gumi” character merchandise - and even a children’s book on Kinoko-gumi’s daily lives has been published!


Bunapi by the Hokuto Corporation is a funny and romantic girl with long lashes. She has just celebrated her 5th birthday this July. Congrats!

Nice hat! Bunashimeji is a spirited person.

It gets even better: Curly Maitake is a fashion icon for the mushroom community!

Dude! Eryngii with a stylish hat (or hair?) gives us a cool look!

We hope you loved these joyous characters as we did. And don’t forget to eat your veggies!

82 Comments

  1. I love these posts about Japanese packaging! There’s so much tradition and culture behind the design of each character.

    Posted by: oliphant on October 22nd, 2007 at 8:35 pm

  2. Ah! Great stuff! Gotta love Japan! :)

    Posted by: Nuno on October 23rd, 2007 at 3:55 am

  3. So cute! I love it!
    It’s always tempting seeing japanese products, specially food, in Liberdade (japanese neighbourhood here in São Paulo). You want to buy them all even not knowing what they are! lol

    Posted by: Akai on October 23rd, 2007 at 4:45 am

  4. Are all these characters just aimed at children to get them to eat more veg? Or has the ‘cute character’ invaded every aspect of Japanese life?

    Posted by: MiNGLED on October 23rd, 2007 at 6:00 am

  5. Aw, so now as youre about to eat your veggies, you can look at the cute little characters and think “Im eating that”

    Posted by: Colin on October 23rd, 2007 at 11:45 am

  6. i love the las one

    Posted by: Roy on October 23rd, 2007 at 1:14 pm

  7. [...] can take a look at the Japanese vegetable packaging culture from Pingmag. Share [...]

    Posted by: Global Voices Online » Japan: Veggie Characters on October 23rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm

  8. [...] Vegetable Characters [en] :: Esta entrada fue publicada el Martes, 23 de Octubre de 2007 a las 1:01 pm y está [...]

    Posted by: Criterion » Archivo del weblog » Packaging a la japonesa on October 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 pm

  9. So cute!
    Kids in Japan probabily have a dilemma whether to eat those friendly creatures… I always felt guilty after biting off the head of Haribo bear.

    Posted by: otakugirl on October 23rd, 2007 at 9:32 pm

  10. Hehe, its fun to see the vegetable packages in Japan. They seem more fun than the ones we have here in Denmark.

    Posted by: Dawid Michalczyk on October 24th, 2007 at 1:41 am

  11. sooooooooooo boring! really like ping but this is not article. have better ideas please.

    Posted by: minako on October 24th, 2007 at 1:57 am

  12. Boring? I thought it was fascinating. Great to know even Japanese vegetables are kawaii these days.

    Posted by: kiki on October 24th, 2007 at 4:00 am

  13. @mingled:
    there is a character for almost anything, and in the supermarkets foods regularly have their own jingles or animations.

    Posted by: Nick on October 24th, 2007 at 3:36 pm

  14. [...] sulle confezioni ci fossero dei personaggi come quelli qui sopra, cambierei idea. Tutte le foto su PingMag, direttamente dal Giappone. Scritto da Simone il 24 Ottobre, 2007Tags: cucina, [...]

    Posted by: In Giappone le verdure hanno carattere – Frizzifrizzi.it on October 24th, 2007 at 4:01 pm

  15. things like this make me so happy.

    Posted by: n on October 25th, 2007 at 3:16 am

  16. minako maybe its because u were in jap.. u saw this everday.. but for foreigner like us might find it intersting

    Posted by: cal on October 25th, 2007 at 6:26 am

  17. [...] لام عکس های متعددی از بسته بندی سبزیجات و میوه در فروشگاه های ژاپن منتشر [...]

    Posted by: Global Voices صداهای جهانیصداهای جهانی » Blog Archive » ژاپن : نگاهی به بسته بندی سبزیجات on October 28th, 2007 at 6:21 am

  18. It is most nobel to put small faces on food products…at least there will honor in their cooking …are gummi bears sold in vending machines in japan?

    Posted by: Yor The Time Hunter on October 29th, 2007 at 4:34 am

  19. lovely pixels.
    inspiring.

    Posted by: rocio_eS on October 29th, 2007 at 3:33 pm

  20. [...] japanese veggie characters [...]

    Posted by: CHROMEMUSIC » becoming immune to cuteness on October 29th, 2007 at 7:55 pm

  21. It’s cool to see the fun side in design

    Posted by: chris on October 30th, 2007 at 9:20 am

  22. You know, I hadn’t thought about these. Characters are so ubiquitous that I just filter them out. I wish I had written something on this in my blog. :)

    Posted by: びっくり on November 1st, 2007 at 2:54 am

  23. I know he’s not a vegetable, but I always liked the gorilla eating his own boogers. Does anyone know which one I’m talking about?

    Posted by: EEEAAAVVV on November 8th, 2007 at 8:33 am

  24. Awww… if I had been exposed to smiling veggie packages growing up, I may have been more inclined to eat my vegetables from the onset :-P

    Posted by: Stephanie on November 24th, 2007 at 11:42 pm

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  26. I always find so funny cute characters trying to convince people to eat them! Why does the cute tomato try to sell his fellow friend to be horribly sliced, cooked and eaten?!!!! Carnage! :)

    Posted by: Magali Nishimura on July 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 pm

  27. Lol i dont wanna eat them after that

    Posted by: Sophie on October 15th, 2008 at 3:56 am

  28. Why doesn’t the Eringi guy look phallic? Eringis always look incredibly phallic. Even my mom, who’s a senior, blushes and giggles when we open up a package to chop it up for a sautee (oh, no!) : o

    Posted by: Sophie on October 28th, 2009 at 11:16 am

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