Is she Momotaro?

August 8, 2007 at 11:34 am | Posted in Craft - Books, Craft - Misc, Craft - People | 3 Comments

もも たろう is one of my favorite Japanese stuffed animal designers. The name seems to be pseudo as ももたろうis the name of a popular hero from Japanese folklore. It’s probably the reason I couldn’t find much information about this designer (probably a group of designers). It’s hard to find a right query for any search engines. (hmm…..I started to wonder if ChaCha has any Japanese speakers in their supports. Their engine doesn’t work with Japanese so well anyway. ) Another reason is most of her/his books were published at least 10 years ago, in which years Internet was just invented. Nevertheless, lack of information won’t stop me from admiring the nice cute softies in the books. It possibly makes these cute stuffed animals more attractive….:-D (Please tell me if you know more about this Momotaro, say websites, blogs, etc. )

Therefore, I was a little surprised and a little exiting when I saw a Indie-crafts shopping website full of Momotaro-style felt animals. It’s surprising because it’s in English and I am happy that I find something I’ve been looking for. The owner indeed looks Asian. (http://indollgences.blogspot.com/) However, I got confused very soon: I found something else that look more like Nonisa Kuhana(大高輝美, another famous toy designer with many publications). What you cannot find from the website is Momotaro’s plush bears (the picture above) or Nonisa Kuhana’s paper clay dolls. It became more confusing when I saw words like “unique” and “one of a kind” all over the website. Finally, I figured out the owner (Irma Chia) was from Indonesia.

So, what the hell is Indonesian selling Japanese-designed softies and calling them OOAK? And, what the hell are all those expert editors of various media recommend the website?

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