Anime Trends: Anpanman Hair Salon in Yokohama

Written by: Michael Keferl on June 15, 2007 at 1:24 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS |

Anime aimed at older kids and adults gets most of the attention in Japan, but for the under-12 set the most important character to know is a pastry full of sweet beans named Anpanman (anko=sweetbeans, pan=bread, and man=man). For many Japanese, Anpanman is their first introduction to the world of animation, and the series is beloved by both children and adults to the point where our good friend’s son’s first words were “mama”, “anpanman”, and “papa” (in that order), and it came as no surprise.

Now the little guy can say ‘Anpanman’ in style, because from the end of April, Bandai opened the Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum, which doubles as a “mall” of sorts catering to kids. Inside, among the fun and other attractions, is the Anpanman Hair Salon where kids aged 0-6 can get their hair cut while sitting on an Anpanman chair and watching Anpanman on TV. Of course, there’s a menu of styles for the kids, including “casual style” and “party style”.

What party these kids are going to is beyond us, but if Anpanman’s sexy friend Melonpanna
is going to be around, you gotta look your best. That probably means a trip to the Anpanman Children’s Collection store as well to get some new duds to compliment the style.

Via Bandai

Tags: anime, Anpanman
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS