Tarepanda (たれぱんだ) is a cute

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...

character owned by the company

San-X is a Japanese stationery company known for creating and marketing Kawaii, cute characters such as Tarepanda, Rilakkuma, and Sumikko Gurashi. The characters are usually anthropomorphic representations of animals or inanimate objects. Each charact ...

. The term "tare" means "droopy" in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

History

Creation

Tarepanda is licensed by

, the company that introduced Tarepanda stickers in 1995. It was designed by and was inspired when she was being tired.

Characteristics

Tarepanda is a character that moves by rolling over, with a record speed of 2.75 m/h. Tarepanda's favorite food is

mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

, especially

suama , a combination of the kanji for celebration "su" (:wikt:寿, 寿) and sweet "ama" (:wikt:甘, 甘) is a wagashi, Japanese sweet made of non-glutinous rice flour, hot water, and sugar characterized by its red food dye. It is dyed red, because re ...

.San-X.net. (2011). Tarepanda. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from http://www.san-x.jp/characters/tarepanda.htmlTariepie. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from http://tarepie.tripod.com/sum3.htm

Popularity

In February 1998, San-X launched Tarepanda erasers and letter pads, which proved enormous hits. San-X believed these products were successful because they were released shortly after the Asian financial crisis of autumn 1997, a time when many people in Japan were facing layoffs and, consequently, were sympathetic toward a "worn-out" panda character. Sales of Tarepanda goods exceeded () in the first few months of its release.Takuya Hamashima, "Stressed out? You need 'virtual healing'!", Yomiuri Shimbun, November 27, 1999, at 7. It became Japan's seventh top-grossing character of 1999, generating () in merchandise sales that year, adding up to () merchandise sales in Japan by 1999. Tarepanda was a major hit in Japan. It has appeared on annual retail sales charts published by Character Databank, a Japanese character sales monitoring firm, . It was rated one of the most popular characters in Japan for its cuteness.

Merchandise

Picture books

* ''Tarepanda: Kyou mo Yoku Tareteimasu.'' (Hikaru Suemasa, June 1999, ) * ''Taregoyomi: Nengara Nenju Tareteimasu.'' (Hikaru Suemasa, September 1999, ) * ''Taredzukushi: Tarepanda Fuanbukku'' (Hikaru Suemasa, March 2000, ) * ''Tareyukumamani: Kigatsuku to Sobani iru'' (Hikaru Suemasa, April 2001, )

Sticker books

* ''Tarepanda Shiiru'' (Hikaru Suemasa, March 2000, )

Videos

* ''Tarepanda'' (

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

, VHS, 2000/7/25) * ''Tarepanda'' (

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, 2000/8/25)

Games

* ''Tarepanda no Gunpei'' (

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

WonderSwan The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released i ...

, December 9, 1999) * ''Taregoro: Tarepanda no Iru Nichijou'' (Bandai, PlayStation, August 31, 2000)

Computer

* ''Tarepanda'' (

Interchannel was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. History Interchannel was founded on October 2, 1995 as an NEC subsidiary named . Its founding was a result of divisions within NEC being spun off. NEC Interchannel took over NEC Avenue's musi ...

, 2001/6/29, typing-tutor software) * ''Tare Tsuzuri'' (

, 2001/11/22, card-creation software) * ''Tarepanda Toissho'' ( Fortyfive, 1999/4/16, desktop accessories) * ''Tarepanda Toissho 2'' ( Fortyfive, 1999/8/10, desktop accessories) * ''Tarepanda Toissho 3'' ( Fortyfive, 2000/4/28, desktop accessories) * ''Tarepanda Toissho Tsume Awa Se'' ( Fortyfive, 2002/2/8, desktop accessories)

References

{{Reflist San-X characters Fictional pandas Mascots introduced in 1995 Male characters in advertising