![]() ![]() Most customers don't know this and believe she is entirely Japanese. In the fictional setting, Licca-chan is born to a Japanese mother and a French father. It still remains the founding philosophy of the product development team. It was the philosophy that Yasuhiro Kojima, a former senior managing director lived by. In order for these dolls to be popular, the key was to always develop products from the child's perspective. To play with these dolls, many family dolls, dresses, houses and accessories were sold at the same time. These dolls taught traditional women’ lives such as cooking, washing, cleaning, through “let’s pretend” play. Licca chan dolls were a creation of new value for play and the objective was to provide dreams for girls. As of today, Japan's Licca and America's Barbie are the only two fashion dolls in the world that have lasted more than 25 years and their sales are always in competition. From its high recognition from the Takara era to the current Takara Tomy, Licca is positioned as a corporate identity character of the manufacturer. In 1996, Licca-chan returned to the top sales of dress-up dolls again.Įven now, Licca-chan is highly recognized and it is even used as a synonym for other dolls from different companies. Despite the popularity, Licca-chan dolls suffered a decline in sales in the 1990s due to rival dolls based on anime like Sailor Moon. Licca-chan started exceeding Barbie sales and began to reign as the queen of Japanese dress-up dolls. Two years after the launch in 1969, the dolls were accepted by the Japanese children causing Mattel (makers of the Barbie doll) to move its production base to another country, focusing less on sales in Japan. Subsequently, the name "Rica" became known as a name that works for both Japanese and foreigners. The name "Licca-chan" was decided by the general public offering on the July 1967 issue of the monthly girl manga magazine " Ribon". Miyako Maki was put in charge of the illustration of the advertisement at the time of release and the advertisement was named as "supervised by Maki-sensei". While planning, a fashion doll, in a setting of elementary school, the height 21 cm to fit in the palm was in favor, adopting characteristics of a cartoon girl. The size was larger than expected and the plan was reviewed not suitable for Japanese housing circumstances and children's carrying. ![]() The initial plan was for the company to plan a dollhouse which could be carried by children, for dressing dolls of other companies like Mattel. In 1966, Takara planned to enter the dress-up doll market taking advantage of the know-how of the plastic process. Ī Licca-chan video game was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on November 29, 2007. Since then, other versions of Licca-chan have been introduced, including a new "Departure Licca", released just ahead of the 40th anniversary in 2007. The release of the doll happened to coincide with the birth of Aiko, the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako of Japan, a factor which helped boost the sales of the new doll. The baby came with a key which allowed the doll to be returned to its standard proportions. In 2001, a pregnant adult version of Licca-chan was introduced which included a postcard the purchaser could send to Takara for a baby doll. Street Licca was the ultimate "indie rock" doll. Along with her Ursula 1000, Gants and Spearmint records, she toted a pair of pink Converse running shoes, grey "leather" pants, headphones, layered hoody and a blonde bob haircut. Rough Trade Records teamed up with Takara in the late 90s to release "Street Licca", who was a DJ that carried a Rough Trade record satchel, and mini, doll-sized LPs from the labels' artists. Takara has provided an extensive background story for the Licca-chan doll, including an age (11), where she attends school, names and occupations for her parents, and her favorite books ( Anne of Green Gables and A Little Princess). Licca-chan was created by former shōjo manga artist, Miyako Maki, who is also the wife of Leiji Matsumoto. Takara had sold over 48 million Licca-chan dolls as of 2002, and over 53 million as of 2007. Licca-chan ( リカちゃん, Rika-chan), full name Licca Kayama ( 香山リカ, Kayama Rika), is a dress-up doll series introduced in Japan on Jby Takara, enjoying the same kind of popularity in Japan as the Barbie series does in the United States. ![]()
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