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TOKYO - A centuries-old Japanese love of miniatures, exemplified by carved 'netsuke' purse-string figurines, has spread to candies turned into containers for meticulously finished 'free gift' toys, some designed by pop art icon Takashi Murakami. A boom in demand for plastic toys that come in packets of candies, known as 'shokugan' - which literally means 'food toys', dates back to September 1999 when a confectionery maker launched an egg-shaped chocolate containing plastic animal figurines. Choco Egg enthralled children and adults alike and sold a staggering 110 million packets in the first three years. The models were made by Kaiyodo, based in Osaka, which has tied up with another confectionery maker to produce caramels containing miniature imitations of electrical gadgets, toys and hit characters from the 1950s and 1960s that have sold at least 20 million packets since 2001. All the gift toys are hand-painted in China, making it possible to sell a packet of candy with a freebie for one-to-three dollars each, cheap by Japanese standards. 'Japanese people love miniature things as seen in the history of 'netsuke' (figurines carved from ivory or wood and threaded on a cord) and gardens of bonsai trees,' said Kaiyodo planning official Shigeki Shirakawa. 'Give-aways coming along with sweets used to be low-priced but also low quality ... Their popularity has exploded as quality improved so much that they attracted adults,' he said. The market for miniature gift toys is estimated at 50-60 billion yen (S$800-$960 million) a year in Japan. Artist Takashi Murakami's 'Superflat Museum' candy box series was launched last year and includes a cluster of mushrooms with multiple eyes and 'Hiropon', a naked girl skipping a rope apparently formed by milk gushing out of her enormous breasts. Murakami stunned the world last year when the life-size 'Miss KoKo' that he designed - another improbably busty figure in an ultra-short waitress outfit - was sold for US$567,500 (S$950,000) at Christies in New York. The figurine was fashioned into three dimensions by a Kaiyodo sculptor known simply as Bome. A 13-day exhibition of 2,000 plastic models, shokugan figurines and other miniatures by Kaiyodo opened at a Tokyo department store on Wednesday, drawing 3,000 people on the first day. Talking to an audience of several hundred on the sidelines of the exhibition, 42-year-old Murakami said art and shokugan were 'the same to me', and Kaiyodo's name would go down in the history of 'peculiar art.' Kaiyodo executive Shuichi Miyawaki, the eldest son of the company's founder Osamu Miyawaki, said he had wanted to team up with Murakami as he thought it 'fun to be able to buy 'art' at convenience stores.' Kaiyodo has also been supplying miniatures of its exhibits to the British Museum since last October, and they are available on the Internet. 'The next target for us is ... to conquer the world by supplying souvenirs to museum shops,' Miyawaki said. 'All we can find there are pathetic things such as a cheapish mug with the museum's logo ... We are able to produce excellent-quality souvenirs for several dollars,' he said. The exhibition was swarmed by shokugan fans, many of them middle-aged men who had memories of being absorbed in making plastic models when they were small. Ei Ito, a 35-year-old employee at a Tokyo food co-operative who has scores of miniature model tanks at home, said he was 'overwhelmed by the quality of shokugan,' stressing they could be sold at prices 10 times as high. A big problem for collectors is not knowing which figurine will be inside the candy until it is opened, a ploy designed to encourage more purchases. There most adults have an advantage over children, having the money to buy as many as they need to find their desired miniature. 'I sometimes do what is called 'adult buying' or making purchases in packs of 10 or so boxes to reduce the risk of doubling up,' Ito said. Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. |