Japanese Toymakers

choi

State of play l Toymakers Bounce Back in the Land of Adult Nappies; They have become pioneers in how to adapt to a rapidly ageing society. Economist, Feb 23, 2017.
http://www.economist.com/news/bu ... ymakers-bounce-back

Note:
(1) Derived from "napkin," what British calls a nappy is a diaper in America.

(2) "WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS, an American educator who travelled to Japan in the 1870s, noted that in the previous two and a half centuries, 'the main business of this nation was play.' He described toyshops filled as full as Christmas stockings and plenty of grown-ups 'indulging in amusements which the men of the West lay aside with their pinafores.' "
(a) William Elliot Griffis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Elliot_Griffis
(1843-1928)

Quote:

"At Rutgers [University as an undergraduate student], Griffis was an English and Latin language tutor for Tarō Kusakabe, a young samurai from the province of Echizen [Province 越前 国] (part of modern Fukui [Prefecture 福井県]).

"In September 1870 Griffis was invited to Japan by MATSUDAIRA Shungaku 松平 慶永 [a feudal lord 大名] , for the purpose of organizing schools along modern lines. * * * In 1872-74, Griffis taught chemistry and physics at Kaisei Gakkō 開成学校 (the forerunner of Tokyo Imperial University). * * * Griffis was joined by his sister, Margaret Clark Griffis, who became a teacher at the Tokyo Government Girls' School (later to become the Peeresses' [misspelled; should be 'Peers'] School).

(i) Tarō  KUSAKABE 日下部 太郎 (1845-1970; died of tuberculosis on the eve of his graduation from that university)
(ii) University of Tokyo  東京大学
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Tokyo
(section 1 History: "The university was chartered by the Meiji government in 1877 under its current name by amalgamating older government schools [all Tokyo-based] for medicine and Western learning")

A major predecessor was 開成学校 founded in 明治元年（1868年）.
(iii) Gakushūin  学習院
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakushūin
("is a Japanese educational institution [in Tokyo since 1877] originally established [in 1847 in Kyoto as Peers' School] to educate the children of Japan's nobility. * * * Members of the Imperial Family continue to study at Gakushūin")
(b) pinafore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinafore

choi

(3) "Griffis would have found it familiar walking today around Hakuhinkan Toy Park, one of the largest toy stores in Tokyo. * * * 200,000-odd knick-knacks across five floors. Its director, Hiroyuki Itoh, says he wants the store to be a place where everyone can play. After work, suited salarymen come to spend ¥200 (under $2) for a five-minute whizz around a 36-metre slot-car racetrack."
(a) Hakuhinkan Toy Park  博品館
http://www.hakuhinkan.co.jp/guide_en.html
(b) Another way to Romanize Hiroyuki ITOH is Hiroyuki ITŌ 伊藤 博之 (代表取締役専務 managing director).
(c) whizz (verb and noun; imitative): "(North American whiz)"
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/whizz

(4) "Playthings aimed at the over-20s make up 27% of Japan's domestic toy sales, according to figures from Euromonitor, a market-research firm. That grown-up portion of the market has been crucial for Japan's three biggest players, Bandai Namco, TakaraTomy and Sanrio, as the country's birth rate has slumped. Since the 1970s the proportion of under-15s has halved, to 12% of the population."
(a) Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc  株式会社バンダイナムコエンターテインメント "is an arcade, mobile and home video game publisher, based in [Tokyo]. * * * It is the product of a [2005] merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco."  en.wikipedia.org

ja.wikipedia.org:
(i) "1955年6月1日に中村雅哉が有限会社中村製作所（なかむらせいさくじょ）を設立。1971年に「Nakamura Manufacturing Company」の略としてnamcoブランドの使用を開始、1977年には社名もナムコと改めた（当時の英語名は「NAMCO LIMITED」）。"

my summary in English: In 1955 NAKAMURA Masa-ya formed "Nakamura sei-saku-jō 製作所), which in 1971 had a brand name of Namco (shortened from Nakamura Manufacturing Company)  and in 1977 renamed the company Namco.
(ii) As for the other parent: BANDAI Co, Ltd  株式会社バンダイ

"[table: 1950年7月5日（株式会社萬代屋） * * * 創業者、山科直治（1918年 - 1997年10月28日）の義兄久々津一夫が経営する繊維会社「萬代産業」の玩具製造小会社「萬代屋」として浅草にて創業。「萬代」（万代）とは武経七書の一つに数えられる兵法書「六韜」に登場する語の「萬代不易」（永久不変の意）に由来し、創業者の山科直治が「いつの世も人の心を満たす物を作り、絶えない企業の発展を願う」という意味だとしている。"

my summary in English: In 1950 YAMA-SHINA Nao-haru established in Tokyo the company 萬代屋, out of his brother-in-law's 萬代産業 (product: fibers). the name Bandai came from 萬代不易 in the book 六韜 (one of 武經七書), to fulfill the founder's thinking: "always making what people wants, wishing ceaseless progress of the enterprise."
(b) The Tokyo-based Takara Tomy (that makes physical, as opposed to virtual, toys) was created from a 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Takara 宝 (founded in 1955)."  en.wikipedia.org

Tomi's founder was surnamed Tomiyama 富山.  (Not to be confused with another kanji 豊, whose japanese pronunciation is "toyo.")
(c) Sanrio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanrio
(section 1 History: name)

Founder Shintaro TSUJI 辻 信太郎 (辻 in Japan means a crossroads) established 山梨シルクセンター (literal translation: Yamanashi Silk Center), selling locally (ie, in Yamanashi Prefecture 山梨県) silk products.  ja.wikipedia.org

choi

(5) "Fumiaki IBUKI 伊吹 文昭 of Toy Journal, a 114-year-old trade magazine [in Japan, written in Japanese], says Japanese toy companies are pioneers in adapting to ageing."

(6)  "When Bandai's Tamagotchi, virtual pets housed in an egg-shaped toy, were booming in the mid-1990s, women in their 20s and 30s were big buyers. The same age-group snapped up Licca-chan, Japan's answer to Barbie, made by TakaraTomy. The firm now has an adult range; its 'Cappuccino One-Piece' doll, modelling a houndstooth dress, sells for ¥12,000. "
(a) Tamagotchi  たまごっち
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi
(released by Bandai in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in the rest of the world; "According to Bandai, the name is a portmanteau combining the Japanese word tamago (たまご), which means 'egg [卵],' and the English word 'watch' "/ plot: An alien deposited an egg on earth, whose development depended on play's care)

A player might set date and time of the device, hence functioning as a watch.
(b)
(i) Licca-chan  リカちゃん
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licca-chan
(1969- ; a series of dolls under the  name, whose full name is Rica KAYAMA 香山 リカ)
(ii) Japanese honorifics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics
(section 3.4 Chan)

There is no kanji representation for "chan."
(c) Cappuccino One-Piece
(i) That is a series of women, with hair of 薄茶色 (various colors ranging from what may be called in the West blond to brunette; ) and a one-piece dress.
(ii) Asides from shared meaning with China such as 希薄 (simplified from 稀薄), 軽薄 and 厚薄,  薄 in Japan has an additional definition as "light" in color.
(d) houndstooth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houndstooth
(section 1 Design and history)

choi

(7) "Children are said to have 'six pockets': two from their parents, and four from their grandparents."

"6ポケットとは、子供一人に対して、両親・両祖父母の合計6人の財布(経済的なポケット)があること。この計6人が子供や孫に高額の商品を買い与える現象を指して、アパレル業界・百貨店などで言われるようになった。  この背景には、少子化で * * * "
m-Words, undated.
http://m-words.jp/w/6%E3%83%9D%E3%82%B1%E3%83%83%E3%83%88.html

my translation: "6 pockets is: a child has two parents and two sets of grandparents, forming a six-person purse (a financial pocket). This indicates the purchase of expensive goods for the child and grandchild. This is a term used in apparel industry and departmental stores. The background is declining birth rates

(8) "coin-operated machines that dispense capsules of small toys—usually of well-known characters from Japanese comic books and television series—known as gachapon (for the sound made when the dial is cranked and the surprise trinket falls into the receptacle). * * * A recent hit was a watch branded “Yo-kai”, after the word in Japanese for supernatural spirits, by Bandai, which chatters when users slot plastic medals into its face. It exemplifies a popular strategy: Yo-kai, whose hero wears the watch, began as a cartoon series in 2013; was adapted for TV; and made into a hit video game. Bandai then won the merchandise rights."
(a) A "gachapon" or "gashapon" -- no kanji for either -- is a toy enclosed inside a hard plastic globe, sold in a vending machine.
(b) Yo-kai Watch  妖怪ウォッチ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-kai_Watch
("Joined by the cat Yo-kai Jibanyan, Nate and Whisper start befriending all sorts of Yo-kai")
(i) The correct transliteration for 妖怪 is yōkai -- a long vowel of o.
http://www.edrdg.org/cgi-bin/wwwjdic/wwwjdic?1F

plucked from the Web regarding Yo-kai Watch: "(Watch does not tell time)"

The toy is watch-shaped.
(ii) The syllables of "Jibanyan" is "Ji-ba-nian."

ジバニャンとは、『妖怪ウォッチ』に登場する、妖怪サイドの主人公的存在のキャラクター。名前の由来は地縛霊の「ジバ」+猫の鳴き声「ニャン」。"
ピクシブ百科事典, undated (ピクシブ = pixiv, name of the website).
http://dic.pixiv.net/a/ジバニャン

My translation: Jibanian appears in Yōkai Watch, belonging to the protagonist. The name comes from the first two syllables of 地縛霊, plus cat's meow "nian."

Japanese-English dictionary:
* ji-baku-rei 地縛霊; 自縛霊(iK); 自爆霊(iK) 【じばくれい】 (n): "(See 浮遊霊) ghost bound to a specific physical location (usu. where death occurred)"
(All three terms of kanji share the same pronunciation. The ja.wikipedia.org says these ghosts 死不瞑目 or meets sudden death from 戦争･事故･災害.)

choi

(9) "Toymakers are now 'more like IP trading companies,' says Junko Yamamura of Nomura 野村証券の山村淳子, a securities firm in Tokyo. Bandai * * * has partnered with Dentsu, an advertising giant, to promote anime. * * * Gudetama, an egg-yolk character that suffers from depression and is now a millennial anti-hero, was dreamed up through a collaboration between Sanrio (best known for its 'Hello Kitty' franchise) and the Tokyo Broadcasting System 東京放送 [1951- ; civilian, not government-owned]. Gudetama first appeared on a short televised animation"
(a) Dents, Inc (presently a 日本の広告代理店) has its origin in 1901 when 光永 星郎 MITSUNAGA Hoshio (enwikipedia.org misspelled the given name as "Hoshino") founded Japan Advertising Ltd 日本広告 that in 1906 merged with another entity 光永 also founded: Japan Telegraphic Communication Co, Ltd 日本電報通信社.The latter was sold off in 1936 . Thus only advertisement remains.  ja.wikipedia.org
(b) ぐでたま
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ぐでたま

(no kanji representation) is really about an egg-yolk who is always sad. See the photo in this Wiki page, which also explains its name: 「ぐでぐでとしたやる気のない卵」.

Japanese-English dictionary:
* kuden-kuden/ kude-kude ぐでんぐでん; ぐでぐで (adj): "dead drunk  <ぐでんぐでんに酔っぱらっている。 He is dead drunk>
* yaruki やる気; 遣る気 【やるき】 (n): "willingness (e.g. to do something); eagerness; motivation; inspiration; determination; high aspirations"