Character Success

The Japanese uses strong visuals to express themselves. Most of them also love gift giving. Cute has such a powerful pull when it comes to the Japanese people. Their Asahi ATM cards have pictures of Miffy the Bunny in them. They toast bread and light their cigarettes with Hello Kitty merchandise. They hand their cellphones on their necks using their Pikachu phone straps.This is  the reasons why there is such a big market for affordable fancy goods with cute characters on them which never fail to bring happiness and amusement to the recipients. It is probably only in Japan can you find a shop devoted entirely to an incredibly cute penguin named Pingu who started out as an animated figure and now has a line that carried ballpens, toilet-paper covers, and washcloths among others.