Iyashi kyara

The word iyashi (癒し) roughly translates as healing or soothing.  いやしの音楽 is soothing music and 自然がもついやしの結果 refers to the restorative powers of nature. Kyara is the contraction of kyarakutaa - character - those icons most famously represented by the ubiquitous Hello Kitty.

So what are iyashi kyara?

This buzzword refers to characters which are not only cute - they reduce stress and help you relax.

The stress-reducing properties arise from two features:
1. The characters look soft to the point of having no skeletal structure
2. Their names connote relaxation

Way back in 1997 TarePanda was the relaxing character of choice. Whereas Hello Kitty is tiring because she's always on the move, TarePanda (from たれる to hang, droop) could only move at a leisurely 2.75 metres per hour, according to manufacturer San-X.

In 2007 stress free animals are big, even when they are small.

Take Rilakkuma. At first glance it looks like the name of a Finnish race car driver, but it is actually a compound of "relax" and "kuma" (bear). Relax Bear. The katakana is リラックマ, which goes a long way to explaining why relax is spelt with an "i".

まめゴマ　(bean sesame) is not intrinsically relaxing but the miniature seal character is floppy and stackable and there is definitely something soothing about seeing a pyramid of six or seven small plush seals.

ゴリンゴ　= Gorilla + ringo (apple), and you guessed it - the characters are apple shaped gorillas. You have to admit, a gorilla shaped like an apple is far less stressful than a normal gorilla.

モノクロブー　monochrome + boo. If you are thinking ghosts, sorry - ブーブー is the sound pigs make and these characters are a pair of porkers, one black  and one white.

スポケン = sports+ken (犬：dog). Surprisingly round for a supposedly athletic hound, but there again is the relaxing factor - even slightly overweight animals can play sport.

ワンルーム = one room but it also means wan-room, and wan is the sound of a dog barking. This set of characters is a bunch of dogs shaped like chairs, phones, mirrors etc. No need to worry about the dog getting hair on the furniture - the dog is the furniture.

アフロ犬 = afro+ken. Yep, a dog with an afro.

There are more characters, but I feared becoming too relaxed to finish writing this post.

San-X isn't the only company pushing plush toy relaxants. Tryworks has its カピバラさん(Capybara-san). The animal? A capybara. No points for wordplay, but it does have an endearingly large head.

Comments

[Sara]

Sorry for all the comments, but its been a while since i checked in. I won a weird plush "onsen manjuu kun" its a big round soft pillow with a face and the onsen symbol embroidered on the... side opposite to his face. Can it be a butt if there is no neck, body or appendages?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1206/559304590_9b2c9f64da_m.jpg picture