#capybara Cupid

[1425fivefive]

Capybara Cupid

Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri | 8k words | Rated T

“What is he?” Lando asks. “Sort of looks like a cross between, like, a guinea pig and a mini horse or something.” “He’s, um, a capybara,” Oscar says. Or: Oscar tries figure out his feelings for his new teammate, with a little help from a very stubborn capybara.

(the fic where everyone has animal companions and Oscar's capybara and Lando's fennec fox try desperately to get the two of them together. inspired by this lovely art and this lovely tumblr fic)

READ ON AO3 (archive-locked 🔒)

[guilhernunes]

Cupidbara

buy a print

painting of a capybara with angel wings pointing a heart-shaped arrow

[mecachrome]

fanart for the incredible capybara cupid by @1425fivefive... literally the best comfort read with the most endearing characters ever!!! obsessed with overly affectionate capy Greg and lando's gentle little fennec fox named EARS. pls read immediately if u haven't

[verycoolfuinha]

𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖞 𝕮𝖚𝖕𝖎𝖉 𝖑𝖆𝖉𝖞

the people (yes people, the capybara is to represent someone ehshe) in this drawing are my friends

the ladys name Dakota, and her bf which we call him Orange.

its a silly gift i made for her, since shes cool :3

i tried to use renaissance paintings technics for this drawing ^^

everytime i think about cupids, the renaissance paintings its the first thing that comes through my

so i tried to make something closer to that ^^ its not perfectly like them but, i'm still proud of it!!!!

(i guess i put too much effort on my drawings and i dont give too much credit to them, but tbh, being proud of it its an improvement mke?)

[aliceisathome]

VIP Only was a sweet little thing - 10 x 20 mins or so and packed full of tropes. Off the top of my head: crash into you, baby is a floppy drunk, falling onto his lips, 'fake' dating, love triangle (I did love the childish squabbling/jealousy of our two semes - the sequence on the stairs was hilarious), fireman carry, piggyback, noble sacrifice and, of course, they knew each other as children. Excellent.

Liu Li's friend Lai Tsai tries for the Namgoong Best Wingman Award but messes up a bit with the blind date before salvaging the situation with the help of Da Ren but nobody's beating out my Light On Me boy anytime soon. Talking of Da Ren, I love that he went from kinda ignorantly homophobic in the first eps to active cupid (and protective of his boss's interests) later on. Cute too.

Lots of nice food AGAIN - that's two series in a row that have left me drooling slightly. And I liked that the uke was the one to step up and face down the seme's awful mother. Good boy. Made up for the fact that he let his former crush crash his romantic dinner - not just crash but sit in Gu Jing's seat and eat his food. Da Ren's aggressive wait service was hilarious.

Worth a binge when you want something Taiwanese and short to nibble on. Also CAPYBARA!

[celestialcluttered]

Okok so!!

Alter intro for me!! (Jynx/Astrophen)

So, my name(s) is/are Jynx and Astrophen or Astro!! Random thing, the name Astrophen is of greek (?) origin, and it roughly translates to “lover of the stars”, coming from the word Astro, meaning “star”, and Phen, meaning “lover of”

My main pronouns are he/him, she/her, ve/ver, ae/aer, lyric/lyrics, muse/muses, tempo/tempos, rhythm/rhythms, riff/riffs, harmony/harmonys, vio/let, violet/violets, pur/ples, purple/purples, indigo/indigos, love/loves, cupid/cupids, bun/buns, paw/paws, although i use absolutely any neopronouns. so basically call me anything other than they lmao

I am omnisexual with a male preference, genderfaunet, apagender, polyamorous or more specifically ambiamorous, and i go by some xenos (specifically musicgender, bungender, purplegender, and lovegender lmao) Im also demisexual and demiromantic

I have both in-sys relationships and i am dating someone outside of the system.

My favorite color is purple or yellow, and my favorite flower is marigold!! I love bunnies and capybaras, and we cant forget abt borzoi dogs (the little silly willies with the really long snout and typically short fur) My favorite season is spring, and my favorite holiday would be halloween, or probably yule tbh

I am a hellinistic polytheist, and an omnist, although i am looking into demonolatry bc its very intriguing for me!! i probably wont be posting anything abt this though as this is going to be the system blog.

I’m currently learning to play bass, and im going to learn acoustic guitar soon!! I also kinda know the flute and orchestra bells, and i can also play a little bit on the keyboard!

I am hyperfixated on music, whether it be making music, listening to it, or learning about it!

Other less intense interests that dont really count as hyperfixations would be stuff such as games, like genshin, obey me, and bandori, and shows like hxh!! I also enjoy learning about psychology, entomology (the study of insects and other arthropods), anthropology (the study of humans and such, and other things of that nature!!

I am the host, and i front the most often!! I am the default settings, if you will /silly

I have autism, adhd, ocd, mdd, and gad, all diagnosed!!

Some disorders that i may have and might self diagnose until further notice in the future would be, bipolar disorder, and p-did

Yeah thats all!! Have a nice dayyahakakalal!!!

[cupidcore]

hope everyone is having a good day and is taking care of themselves!! anything amazing happen recently? any animals stories?! 💞

[clovercoin]

Bulbasaur Spice - I'm for sure keeping this cutie in my collection. I just love the rich oranges and the "autumn" bulb on her back. It will be really weird trying to think of her evolutions but an excited adventure I'm sure! Splice Cupid - Gorgeous Gengar/Clefairy fusion! Def keeping this babe too. She's literally like a dark cupid in my goofy pokemon world~ I like to think of her as a Loki/Trickster type who likes to mess with pokemon and their relationships. Splice Rosasaur - A super duper cute fusion of Ivysaur/Seeking I got ages ago. I seem to have a thing for the bulbasaur line, huh? This cutie loves to wade and chill in water. Think capybara of pokemon. Splice Comet - I very unfortunately am not feeling much of a character for this guy. Arcanine/Umbreon fusion. Probably will look into swapping them out. Splice Shaymin Ninetails - I love her perfect white fur! She would make a really great forest guardian or protector of some wild pokemon garden. Splice Sawdelure - This dude a purchased outright and my gosh they fill me with so much inspiration. He's a guiding spirit, helping those who have lost their way. Usually lost souls who are developing into pokemon but are upset and don't understand what's happening to them. He finds them, comforts them, and takes them somewhere where they can be safe. Furfrou Powerline - This cutie originally black with white fluff. But in the middle of coloring I realized I really loved the solid black look as well to go with that popping yellow! I think I'll be moving their design to the black full coat. Show pokemon, total stud, yes his name is POWERLINE! Like goofy movies haha. Splice Shaybunny - Was excited to draw this one! But now that I drew her, I know I'm craving some sort of lopunny character for sure. But this one might not be the gal I'm looking for. So maybe swapping her out.

[ichika27]

Finished watching Ontama

I’ve heard about this show years ago on an anime mag. Tried looking for it everywhere to no avail. The only place I saw it in had no subs and honestly, I gave up on ever being able to watch this.

Until tonight (yeah, it’s like past 2am right now) where I decided to try once more and found it on an anime site and it had been uploaded somewhere last year.

So here, I pour out a little bit of my thoughts for this show.

The story of Ontama is about this girl here named Ichigo. Her mom and step-dad seem to be arguing lately and it makes her feel terrible as she wants her mom to be happy and think maybe the reason for this is that she’s not her step-dad’s real kid. She thought that maybe, just maybe, if her biological dad and mom got married, they’d be a happy family.

And then this good-looking guy that turns into a stuffed capybara comes in with a magic bus to take her to the past to try and ‘fix’ things.

That’s basically it.

Ichigo lives with her biological dad in the past under the guise of being his ‘little sister’. It’s probably magic or something that no one questions it after the first time since they’d forget about her being in the past after the end of the journey anyways.

These are her biological dad and mom. Her biological dad is kinda a dorky loser while her mom is kind and pretty. Ichigo also found out that her step-dad is actually her biological dad’s best friend and also had a crush on her mom all those years ago. Oh and back then, her step-dad seems to actually be a real nice guy.

And with those information, Ichigo tries to play cupid to get her real parents together.

Did it work? Are they happy? How did things end up the way they did in the present if her step-dad is nice back then?

All of those are answered in the last episode. It’s only got 5 so if you guys wanna check it out...

Below are a bit of spoilers:

Okay so first of all, let me tell you that this show has a bit of ecchi (just a tiny bit) and lots of comedy with Kyousuke (Ichigo’s real dad) being the butt of jokes. It’s also cute with the romance stuff, too. The characters are likable to it was fun to watch them and also cause of that, it made me wonder how things ended up the way they did in Ichigo’s current timeline.

To be honest, I kinda saw the twist coming after a while. I knew it wouldn’t end up the way she wanted it to and that there’s probably gonna be something to turn things the same as the current timeline.

But it still hurt like hell.

I was crying my eyes out earlier. Like, after 4 episodes of comedy you get hit with a tear-jerker at the end. I saw it coming but it was still painful probably cause I ended up caring about the characters. I liked the ending though. I’m happy that they still got a ‘bittersweet ending’.

In the end, I’m glad I got to watch it. I wanted to see this years ago and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t perfect and there were plot holes but taking it by itself, it was a good show.

Haha and also, had this been a different type of anime, I’d have shipped Miyuki (Ichigo’s mom), Kyousuke, and Yuuji (step-dad) with each other. Yeah, an OT3 lol. They all really cared about each other and just wanted each other to be happy. None of them were terrible people, there were just sad circumstances.

--

A few stuff to think about though:

Ichigo never knew what really happened to her real dad and why her biological parents never married in her, at least, 10 years of life and only found out because of magic time travel. I see people asking why and I thought about it and the only explanations I could think of is either her mom and step-dad avoided talking about it so she only knew her current dad is her step-dad and that’s it or maybe she was never told any of this.

In the first episode, Ichigo overhears her parents arguing as she was about to leave for school. In the OP, there was a shot of her sitting at the stairs in the dark and hugging her stuffed animal while crying and is probably also overhearing her parents argue at night. Maybe she was never told Yuuji is her step-dad. Maybe she overheard the information she knew that’s why she didn’t know about Kyousuke. I mean she was hiding a picture of her mom with her real dad in her stuffed animal so what if her mom never gave that to her and she found it herself and hid it?

Honestly, the show would’ve been better had it got more drama than just the twist in episode 5. As nice as the Sawagunja girls are for being friends with Ichigo in the past, they weren’t needed at all for the plot to progress and anything could’ve replaced them to make the things that happen go the same way. This would’ve been better with a few more episodes to focus on Ichigo’s current family as well. But that’s just me liking angst. The thought of angst was the only reason I wanted to see this show in the first place after all haha.

[kattimariias]

bigass dump of all of my underdeveloped sonic ocs

Shift the Japanese raccoon dog (shapeshifter)

Mini the Corgi (gem manipulation)

Bana the Dog-faced bat

Shock the Hedgehog (sss hedgehog)

Licks the Gecko (shalia's former crush)

Emma the Ruffled lemur (leaper)

Azure the Parrot

Vapor the Gerenuk (smoke manipulation)

Wish the Squid (Super Emeralds/Wisp DNA)

Nimbus the Owl

Tuft the Snow leopard (super strength)

Apple the Jackrabbit (cook)

Spot the Lynx (soft edgy)

Forest the Fruit bat

Cascendo the Skunk

Scoops the Svalbard reindeer (ice cream manipulation)

Bandanna the Ethiopian wolf (fun boi)

Bolt the Pegasus (totally not a rainbow dash ripoff)

Cupcake the Ringtailed cat

Scrambles the Mouse (salt)

Paisely the Chinchilla (flower gal)

Dea the Raven (smart)

Oasis the Sand cat (sand manipulation)

Beanie the Civet (seamstress)

Light the Bear (forces thing)

Illusion the Jackal

Trinket the Coyote

Angel the Raccoon

Papercut the Jackal (hardcore edgy)

Glacier the Seal

Vine the Tiger

Andy the Hedgehog (forces thing)

Absolution the Mink

Cupid the Hedgehog (hopeless romantic)

Reverie the Goat (pretends everything is always ok)

Pulse the Songbird (DJ)

Page the Cockatoo (fanfic writer)

Tumble the Rabbit

Tango the Rabbit (dancer)

Lining the Hedgehog (smth to do w/silver)

Kamikaze the Penegrine falcon (speed)

Rapid the Zebra (sp eed)

Celerity the Cheetah (SPEEEEED)

Uni the Echidna (robot)

Violet the Ring tailed lemur

Parade the Pudo (team rose member)

Lake the Moose

Oreo the Pup (an ultimate mastiff)

Zeraph the Zeti

Cube the Chao/Mobian (has no specific species, just traits)

Widget the Wolf (gadget's name inspires me to make clones)

Foutenia the Porcupine (weed quills, blaze, 420)

Oki the Chicken

Doki the Chicken

Loki the Chicken

Martha the Red panda (red and black)

Xeri the Cat (nature lover)

Spirit the Nilgai (free spirit)

Deedee the Shetland pony

Martha the Elephant

Moonlight the Tasmanian devil (battle hungry af)

Onward the Giraffe (forces thing)

Amni the Unicorn (nurse)

Luchar the Badger

Lanzar the Badger

Volar the Pyrenean chamois

Kaboom the Boar

Harmony the Hedgehog

Bubblegum the Pink fairy armadillo

Rara the Manakin (based on the golden crowned manakin)

Warren the Meerkat

Mangle the Fennec fox (dangerously clumsy)

Mirage the Axolotl

Mallow the Tamandua

Batter the Tapit

Spectrum the Chameleon

Stout the Sea bear (sea big)

Bittersweet the Shoebill (seems nice, but is a shit talker)

Avalanche the Adelie penguin (can summon an avalanche with the eye rings)

Gauze the Chinstrap penguin (healer)

Cannon the Gentoo penguin (cannon summoner)

Seed the Tree Kangaroo (has something to do with trees)

Mallet the Red lemur (wields a mallet)

Strike the Crested serpent eagle

Pedestal the Porcupine (loves the spotlight)

Clover the Caiman (has good luck)

Digs the Prairie dog

Pal the Capybara

Alti the Tasier (pilot)

Boulder the Dog (resembles great pyrenees)

Velveteen the Iriomote cat

the Striped hyena

Party the Aardvark

Ash the Ring tailed lemur

Target the Mountain goat

Luna the Komodo dragon

Shield the Serow

Shine the Peacock

Tempest the Fox

Fizz the Cattle egret

Eternal the Aardwolf (Dark gaia energy DNA)

Serendipity the Secretarybird (helpful)

Mumur the Sloth (quiet bean)

Irid the Hippogriff

Dice the Okapi (game player)

Wristle the Bull

Cotton the Sheep

Candy the Donkey

Everlast the Sugar glider

Seafoam the Dolphin

Tri the Gazelle

Gift the Cabbit

Syz the Wolf

Maggie the Squirrel (former human)

Data the Genet

Glitch the Civet

Skye the Blue jay

Leap the Bilby

Epihany the Old dutch capuchine

Pip the Ruff

Jelly the Piculet

Dawn the Toucan

Dive the Heron

Pocket the Quoll

Milk the Jackalope

Muddle the Crocodile

Range the Batfish

Inferno the Longma

Sombra the Pheonix

Lilliah the Dragon

Viral the Tasmanian tiger

Jason the Griffon

Sparkle the Pegacorn

Burst the Nemean lion

Decor the Qilin

Lail the Dog (determined fighter)

Hoodie the Guinea pig

Bite the Chipmunk

Soru the Woodchuck

Rhythm the Hedgehog

Swipe the Reeves' muntjac (scythe wielder)

Swing the Possum (can hang around w/tail)

Heelies the Hedgehog (rollin around at the speed of heelies)

Favor the Capybara (good friend)

[1425fivefive]

is there a chance we'll get more fics out of this one? capybara cupid?

i'm not sure, but do you want a picture of a capybara and a fennec fox that i found on twitter instead? these are canonically greg and ears

[guilhernunes]

cupidbara

prints: Cupidbara, an art print by Guilherme Nunes - INPRNT

[parkminhyuk]

burro’s tail, cupid, and black prince!!

burro’s tail: what was the last dream you had?

Ummmm… goodness, I usually forget my dreams really quickly, but I think it had something to with… school? Maybe? Honestly, the last dream I truly remember much of was this wacky dream with Thor, a spider monster that walked on two legs with it’s mouth on it’s stomach, glitter binders, pencils, and dividers, and rivalry? Idk, I have super weird dreams a lot.

cupid: what are five aspects you like about yourself?

1. I suppose how I’m both calm and quiet but also energetic and kind of loud2. My motherly/big sis instincts (even tho I’m the baby~)3. How easily I can save things (I still have an unopened package of M&Ms from like 2/3 months ago)4. I really, really love my nails… they’re fairly strong and don’t break super easily, so they can get pretty long5. How understanding I am

black prince: are their any pets you would like to have?

Okay, so, I adore animals, and there are a ton of different pets I would LOVE to have… Capybara, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Teacup Pig, Guinea Pigs (again), Rabbit/bunny, Mice, Chinchilla maybe?

Some Succulent Asks~

[hermanwatts]

New Grindstone update lets you turn off gore, dress Jorj as Cupid

Image: Capybara Games

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New Grindstone update lets you turn off gore, dress Jorj as Cupid published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[mamaofthewildones]

New Grindstone update lets you turn off gore, dress Jorj as Cupid

Image: Capybara Games

The slider goes both ways

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[renka-aardvarknews-blog]

Easter egg hunt in Japan

A little girl looks at a chocolate cake during an Easter festival in Tokyo's Daikanyama neighborhood in March 2016. | KYODO  Joining the great Easter egg hunt A year ago, J-pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu released a song with lyrics and a promotional video that were as saccharine as a chocolate bunny. The song was titled “Easta” — a play on Easter and “a good start” in Japanese — and the video had dancing eggs, capybaras and fried-egg UFOs shooting laser beams. While far from being one of her biggest hits, Kyary’s 14th single charted at No. 15 and was billed as Japan’s first Easter dance song. It was also tied in to an Easter sales campaign by retail giant Aeon. The tune may be entirely forgettable, but it signaled a renewed push to commoditize the Christian festival in Japan. In Western countries, some Christians celebrate Easter with a church visit, a big lunch, and hunting or noshing on Easter eggs, either the decorated hard-boiled ones or the chocolate variety. The eggs supposedly recall the tomb from which Jesus was resurrected: an empty shell containing new life. The symbolism is lost in Japan, however, where Christians have only accounted for a very small proportion of the population since Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in 1549.

  Imported traditions However, Japan is fertile soil for gaikoku festivals. In the 20th century, Christmas became a major commercial event in Japan, with Christmas trees, sales promotions and food campaigns held throughout the country. For instance, Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan, which ran wildly successful “Kentucky Christmas” ad campaigns in the 1970s and ’80s, notched some ¥6 billion (about $57 million) in sales over three days last Christmas, a record high. Aside from chicken, Christmas in Japan has another twist: It was rebranded as a date night, a time for lovers to dine in intimate fashion under the mistletoe. Other Western observances have also drawn massive sales interest in Japan. In 1958, Shinjuku’s Isetan department store held what’s said to be the first Valentine’s Day sale in the country. Over three days, staff sold a total of five chocolates, at ¥30 a pop. The event was a dud but, over time, advertising and the growing popularity of Western lifestyles persuaded more consumers to open their wallets. In another Japanese twist, women traditionally buy chocolates for men on Valentine’s. The event became so popular that a confectioner and department store eventually coaxed men to reciprocate by buying into an entirely made-in-Japan event, now celebrated on March 14 as White Day (aside from sweets, jewelry is a longstanding White Day gift). Belgian chocolatier Godiva stirred up controversy recently when it took out a full-page ad in the Nikkei newspaper calling on women to stop the practice of giving giri choko (obligatory chocolate) to male co-workers on Feb. 14. However, whether that manages to break Cupid’s commercial lock on Japanese shoppers remains to be seen. In 2017, the Valentine’s Day market expanded to a record-high ¥138.5 billion (about $1.3 billion), according to Kinenbi Culture Laboratory; at ¥134.5 billion, the market for Halloween in Japan is worth almost as much.

  By comparison, Easter in Japan has usually been more of a nonevent. Some retailers focused on foodstuffs may run promotions yet industries as a whole have traditionally ignored it. There are a few chocolate bunnies on display at department stores in Tokyo, but they’re sold by European chocolatiers. When asked about Easter, a staffer at the information desk of a department store in Shibuya said she’d never heard the term. But why? Easter — at least, as it’s celebrated in North America — seems to have all the right stuff for commercial success: sweets, cute bunnies, Easter egg hunts, and a strong association with springtime and renewal. “The word ‘Easter’ itself has become known in Japan, but it’s hard to say that it’s a familiar concept,” says Tomoki Inoue, an analyst in the Social Improvement and Life Design Research Department at NLI Research Institute. “It’s recognized as an event for families with small children and not something that adults (especially those without children) can enjoy, which may be a factor in why it has not spread widely. Just because the relevant merchandise is cute doesn’t ensure popularity — because it’s targeted at children and young women. Also, Christmas and Valentine’s Day are on specific days, whereas the date of Easter changes every year.” There are other challenges. Spring is when cherry blossom mania sweeps the country and most Japanese are keen on partying under the flowers with family, co-workers and friends. What’s more, April 1 is both Easter Sunday and the beginning of the fiscal year, when new hires start their careers and other workers take up new posts, often in other departments or cities. The school year also begins in April. All that means there’s little time left for a foreign celebration of candy and Christ.

  Hopping market Still, the Easter Bunny is inexorably hopping its way into the hearts of Japan. The Easter market, while small compared to Valentine’s, has nearly doubled in size in three years. It jumped from an estimated ¥18 billion in 2013 to some ¥32 billion in 2017, according to Kiyoshi Kase, representative director of the Japan Anniversary Association. Aside from increased media exposure and more businesses entering the market, Kase believes the market can grow particularly when Easter falls in March and thus won’t conflict with the events marking the beginning of the business and academic year. Confectioner Morinaga & Co. began Easter promotions in 2015. Last year, chocolate maker Dars conducted a survey of 854 people aged 15 to 59 that found only 51 percent were familiar with Easter. To help boost that ratio, it launched an augmented-reality egg hunt app starring its bird mascot Kyorochan.

  “People haven’t really grasped what kind of festival Easter is yet, but we can say that the sales of Easter-related products have increased since 2015,” says Morinaga spokesperson Ayako Kunichika. “We feel that public recognition and interest are steadily growing, judging by customers’ reactions at shops.” It’s not surprising that retailers are trying to get consumers interested in Easter, but they have to explain it. Chocolate maker Ezaki Glico Co. has a webpage on the meaning of Easter and how to enjoy it. Featuring a handful of photographs of Westerners enjoying Easter, along with rabbits, Easter eggs and even the Moai statues of Easter Island, the page describes Easter’s origins in Christianity and Germanic pagan belief in a goddess called Eostre, who is associated with spring and a sacred hare. It concludes with six recommendations for how to enjoy Easter: painting eggs, hanging Easter decorations, holding Easter egg rolls, hunting for Easter eggs, wearing Easter bonnets and enjoying Easter cakes.

  Theme park push Some of the biggest promoters of Easter in Japan are the theme parks. It was Tokyo Disney Resort that initially sparked public awareness of the holiday as a commercial event in Japan, according to NLI Research Institute’s Inoue. The park even has its own characters called Usatama, named after the Japanese words for rabbit (usagi) and egg (tamago), that are basically eggs with rabbit ears and Mickey Mouse-style hands and feet. This year’s Easter celebration at Tokyo Disney Sea runs from March 27 to June 6 under the banner of “fashionable Easter.” There are special performances, menu items and a range of headgear. A promotional video features a pair of young Japanese women wearing bunny ears and shouting “Happy Easter!” “Because of this festival image promoted by Disney Resort, and with food companies doing confectionery and eggs, and retailers holding campaigns, it seems that Easter has come to be recognized as a family event featuring key elements of Easter bunnies and Easter eggs,” Inoue says.

  Other theme parks are deploying made-in-Japan characters to generate sales at Easter. Tokyo One Piece Tower, an attraction at Tokyo Tower that’s based on the Eiichiro Oda hit manga “One Piece,” is holding an egg hunt. Sanrio Puroland is putting on its Puro Easter festival from March to June featuring iconic fictional feline Hello Kitty, bonneted rabbit My Melody and Gudetama, an anthropomorphic fried egg with a butt and a severe case of the “blahs.” The latter has become a surprise hit, spawning all manner of merchandise. “Sanrio began selling Easter goods in 2015, and one reason was that there was this perfect egg connection with Gudetama, the character we developed in 2013,” says Sanrio Co. spokesperson Madoka Hoso. The parks are also working with manufacturers. Mayonnaise giant Kewpie Co. has teamed up with Universal Studios Japan in holding the Osaka theme park’s Enjoy Easter event, now in its sixth year. Aimed mainly at kids, it runs from March to June and features photo opportunities for those who dress up, and encounters with major brand characters such as Elmo, Snoopy and Cookie Monster.

  “People have expectations for a theme park like USJ that they’ll be able to enjoy not only permanent attractions but also seasonal events,” says Universal Studios Japan spokesperson Erika Ishibashi. “USJ has a very successful Halloween event that’s been held since 2002, and it helped popularize Halloween in Japan. We think that through theme park events and company promotions, the customs of various holidays and seasonal events abroad can become widespread in Japan.” Hopes for a ‘spring Halloween’ Theme parks and candy makers aren’t the only ones trying to egg consumers on. Kewpie, which found in a 2016 poll that 47 percent of respondents had only heard the term Easter, sees the holiday as a good vehicle for its new dressing. It now has a dedicated Easter webpage declaring that Easter is on April 1 and April 8, inviting readers to enjoy eggs and vegetables. It suggests dishes that might give Western readers pause: a ham, cabbage and carrot Easter salad with a giant bunny face made of scrambled eggs, or a “roast beef tower” with an asparagus and paprika fringe.

  Indeed, it seems like every consumer-oriented company in Japan is joining the Easter parade. Asahi Breweries is serving up Easter recipes and cocktails and cocktails made with Bols Advocaat, a Dutch liqueur. Itoham Foods is doing the same with pork-based bento boxes with bunny-shaped sausages. Kaldi Coffee Farm is selling Easter Blend coffee beans and Tully’s Coffee Japan is brewing up Poppin’ Easter Lattes topped with chocolate rabbit ears. Capsule toy maker Kitan Club is rolling out rabbit ear hats for cats. Nagoya Tokyu Hotel is luring customers with chocolate Easter eggs, hens and rabbits. Daimaru department store’s Umeda branch in Osaka is pushing a range of goods as part of its “Kawaii Easter” campaign, including cakes, sweets, pastries, bento boxes, bunny backpacks and other merchandise. Have we reached critical mass for the resurrection of Christ? “I don’t think there are many people who are interested in Easter in itself, but it’s a good opportunity to boost sales opportunities with cute motifs such as bunnies or chicks,” says Umeda Daimaru spokesperson Yoko Higuchi. “I expect that as a spring festival, sales opportunities will grow so that Easter becomes a kind of spring Halloween.”

  Tweaks wanted It’s unclear if Easter in Japan will ever rival Christmas, Valentine’s or Halloween. It may be one of the most important festivals of the Christian calendar but it’s still a hatchling here and needs to grow its retail wings before it can soar to commercial success. “Like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, Easter also grew out of sales promotions by private companies,” Inoue says. “However, while the demand for gifts stimulates the Christmas and Valentine’s Day markets, there’s no clear demand for Easter gifts. The future growth of the market, then, is questionable if it’s only surrounding foods such as sweets and eggs as well as ornaments.”

  Hakuhodo Youth Research Center head Yohei Harada notes that the spread of photos of Easter eggs and bunnies via social media has been giving Easter traction in the Japanese market. However, he emphasizes that the key to making a foreign holiday succeed in Japan is localization: It needs to be tweaked or it should dovetail with local fads like cosplay, the art of dressing up as characters from manga, anime and other pop culture media. “It’s said that it took about 20 years for Halloween to take off in Japan,” Harada says. “But I don’t think it will be as big as Christmas or Valentine’s Day. That’s because they’re both tied to the goal of spending time with a lover, but Easter in Japan does not have a purpose.

  “Halloween in Japan has become popular as a cosplay event, but I don’t think that Easter will be that kind of event because it’s difficult to come up with costume ideas aside from dressing up as a rabbit. Whether Easter will be a hit here depends on whether it can become an event with value unique to Japan.”

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