Stitch!

-Two Stitch Crane-Game Machines-

Japan is big on Disney. If you walk around a big enough train station, someone will be carrying around a Disney Store bag, and there is Disney merchandise everywhere. What is popular between America and Japan is very different though. There is very little focus on the Disney Princesses that monopolize the brand in America. Instead the focus is on cute, and hardly mentioned overseas, characters such as Marie from the Aristocats, a female rabbit from Bambi, and, most notably, Stitch and Angel.

Stitch and Angel are from the Lilo and Stitch movie and spin offs respectfully. Japan even has its own Stitch anime. The anime is called “Stitch!” and takes place in Japan. Lilo has been left behind for Japanese girl, Yuuna (who was named Hanako during production). A preview of the show can be viewed here. Even that tiny clip shows the cultural changes that come with the new show being made in Japan.

Stitch merchandise is sold almost at every store, and is usually grouped with the classic Disney characters such as Mickey and Donald. As seen in the two pictures in this post, Disney merchandise can be as simple as a stuffed animal in a crane game to a miniature kitchen set. It’s not common to see this much variety in merchandising with any other Disney characters. It’s interesting to see the differences in popularity between the two countries.

-A Stitch Themed Mini-Kitchen Set-