2 | Wednesday, June 26, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PAGE TWO

Editor’s note: In a world facing point pen. At the time, I was in jun­ increasing challenges on a number of ior high school, and I found fronts, such as isolationism and protec­ mathematics tortuous. When I was tionism, different nations and cultures doing my homework, I saw this cute now have a stronger need and desire to Cartoon culture captures and quiet rabbit on my pen and get to know one another. In this series, immediately felt calm. Since then, I China and the World: Learning and won’t buy stationery without a Miffy Understanding, we look at efforts being design,” Zhang said. made globally to broaden mutual com­ Frank A.J. Padberg, business munication and understanding. This is development manager at Mercis, the sixth in the series. the Dutch publisher and rights Chinese imaginations holder for Miffy, said the cartoon fig­ By PAN MENGQI ure has many adult fans in Asia, but [email protected] in the Netherlands, its home coun­ Middle­class consumers willing to pay more for licensed merchandise try, Miffy is largely viewed as a chil­ fter hearing that a magni­ dren’s character. tude 7 earthquake had hit “In every household with young the southern Japanese children you will probably find some island of Kyushu on April Miffy products. The character is 16, 2016, Tang Qiulin, a college stu­A recognized as something typically dent from Chongqing, immediately Dutch and has been an icon for the logged into her Twitter account and past three generations,” Padberg said. posted this question, “Are you safe, Since 1955, when the first Miffy Kumamon?” book was published, total sales of Eric Tang, a student from Hong books featuring the character have Kong, also tweeted a few minutes reached more than 85 million, and later, “Are Kumamon and his friends have been published in over 50 lan­ safe?” guages. Lee Mingjang, from Thailand, posted, “Pray for Kumamoto and Imaginations widened Kumamon,” a sentiment that was Television series starring Miffy have repeated thousands of times that day. been broadcast worldwide for years, The quake, one of the severest to and it is easy to find stores selling chil­ hit Japan, killed at least 50 people dren’s products such as clothing, blan­ and injured more than 3,000. It top­ kets, napkins and crockery that bear pled office buildings and damaged images of the character. tens of thousands of homes. Zhang said she thinks animation In the wake of the disaster, while and cartoon characters are the most many Japanese residents posted important way in which children information on social media about can understand the world and form the safety of their friends and rela­ their own values. She wants her tives, many netizens overseas, such daughter to watch cartoons that can as Tang, were posting messages ask­ educate and inspire, and thinks that ing whether Kumamon was safe. Miffy has both these attributes. Kumamon, a bear cartoon charac­ An exhibition themed “Art Miffy: Miffy at the Museum” is held at the Guangdong Times Museum in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong “Although many people think that ter about 1.5 meters tall, with glossy province, in April 2016. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY cartoons and animations are solely black fur, round red cheeks and for children, as an adult, I read com­ wide, staring eyes, is registered as a ic books and watch cartoons myself. civil servant in Kumamoto, a city on Sometimes I buy toys for myself Kyushu in southwestern Japan with based on cartoon figures, not only as a population of 700,000. a hobby but also as an escape from In Japan, Kumamon is an abbre­ my busy life,” Zhang said. viation for “the people of Kumamo­ In China, revenue from products to” in the local dialect. Created in related to cartoons and animation 2010 as the city’s official mascot to reached 76.4 billion yuan in 2017, boost local tourism, the character almost twice that of the market for soon shot to fame. books, movies and TV series. In Kumamon carries out numerous Japan, revenue from the former was activities under the title of “sales eight to 10 times that of latter. manager” for Kumamoto prefec­ Tang Junshu, a lecturer from the ture. The character plays an active School of Animation and Digital role in various areas, such as appear­ Arts at Communication University ing in tourist campaigns run by the of China, said anime and cartoons local government and in TV comedy have captured and widened imagi­ shows with the prefecture’s gover­ nations globally, especially among nor. Images of Kumamon can also young people. be seen on cookies, bags of rice, “Not only do certain anime fran­ hotel bed linen and even on a plane chises perfectly capture the mod­ operated by the budget carrier Sola­ ern­day concerns of Chinese seed Air. audiences, they also provide the per­ Asked why she cared sufficiently fect medium for viewers to escape for Kumamon to be concerned for their worries. his safety after the earthquake, Tang “More important, animation and Qiulin said the character has a “cute cartoon products are also important and naughty” personality. conveyors of values and soft power. She was not alone. After the From Tintin to Kumamon or Miffy, quake, Kumamon’s Twitter feed, Left: Miffy attracts a crowd at a theme park in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Top right: An event is held in Beijing in March to change the official these characters represent the which has 808,000 followers, was Chinese name of Kumamon. Above right: The Line Friends store in the Taikoo Li business district of Chengdu, Sichuan province. unique culture of the creator’s own flooded with thousands of com­ country, promoting cultural values ments asking about his safety, with and at the same time bringing huge some fans saying they hadn’t even economic benefits to their home visited Japan. nations when people buy these Simon Lee, a senior lecturer at the Emotions mean sales, and the more the characters can depict life or relate to human feelings, products,” Tang Junshu added. School of Accountancy at the Chi­ More animation and cartoon pro­ nese University of Hong Kong’s the more people will be willing to consume.” duction companies worldwide are Business School, said: “Generally, a Tang Junshu, lecturer at Communication University of China eyeing the surging market in China. mascot does not have any stories, Sometimes, even if a character does but the government of Kumamoto not come from a cartoon movie or prefecture has successfully built ma meng in Mandarin as a translit­ Philippe Wang, a representative already familiar with his adventures comic book, as long as it is cute Kumamon’s cute and naughty per­ eration of Kumamon. In March, this in China for Moulinsart, the compa­ by then thanks to pirated copies enough, it can still capture the sonality through marketing activi­ was replaced by the new name ny set up to protect and promote the which helped build a fan base hearts of the country’s consumers. ties. This low­cost but effective way Xiong Ben Xiong. This had long work of Herge, the character’s crea­ before the books became widely Line Friends, a global brand fea­ of attracting a mass audience to fol­ been the unofficial and more com­ tor, said, “Tintin fans bought up all available. turing characters based on stickers low the character’s stories has grad­ monly known name for the mascot the limited­edition suitcases of Tin­ The first generation of Chinese Tin­ from the messaging app Line, was ually increased Kumamon’s used in China since its debut. tin in Shanghai with his dog Snowy tin readers, many of them now in launched in 2011 by a subsidiary of exposure.” printed on them.” their 40s and 50s, can afford to buy South Korean internet search com­ In China, Kumamon also has a Theme store opens In 1934, Belgian cartoonist Geor­ licensed books and related products pany Naver Corp. huge fan base. Online memes, or An Quan, a staff member at ges Remi, known by his pen name from the series. Many of them buy the The Line app triggered a trend biaoqingbao, featuring cute images IMMG­Beijing Co, a Japanese com­ Herge and as “the father of Tintin”, full set of The Adventures of Tintin where people used sticker charac­ of the bear have spread on social pany that handles licensing for met in Brussels, the Belgian capital, comic books for their children. ters to express their feelings while media to the extent that it is hoped Kumamon on the Chinese main­ with Zhang Chongren, a student Although Tintin was created 90 years chatting online. Although Line is not that the millennial generation will land, said: “China is a market that from Shanghai studying architec­ ago, sales of the books remain highly the main messaging app in China, flock to meet with the character in our company attaches great impor­ ture, to create the story The Blue popular among children. Line Friends characters such as real­life settings. tance to. Since Kumamoto prefec­ Lotus, which is set in the Chinese city. According to iResearch, last year Brown the Bear and Cony the Rabbit In the Xintiandi district of Shang­ ture lifted the ban on the use of The Blue Lotus is the shop’s main there were nearly 350 million ACGN have millions of fans in the country. hai, the Kuma Cafe attracts hordes Kumamon’s image by overseas com­ theme. Products on sale range from (anime, comics, games and novels) Line Friends has more than 10 of the bear’s selfie­taking fans. The panies last year, IMMG­Beijing has a customized paper lamp at the door users in China, with more than 200 stores in China, which are visited by cafe, which opened in January 2017, licensed more than 200 applica­ to a shelf displaying all the charac­ million ages 8 to 50. thousands of customers every day. was an instant hit with young peo­ tions, as many companies want ters from the Tintin series. Creativity lies at the core of the They buy mobile phone cases, back­ ple, with long lines waiting for two Kumamon to appear on their prod­ Wang said an extensive range of animation and cartoon sector, but packs and stationery, or have coffee hours each day for a table. ucts or marketing campaigns.” official merchandise and art books more than 70 percent of the indus­ in the stores’ cafes and take selfies According to the Kumamoto pre­ Kumamon’s success in the busi­ are available at the store, and sever­ try’s profits are generated by the with the characters. fecture office in Shanghai, sales of ness world also shows that Chinese al of these are limited editions. Pri­ development of related products Tang Junshu, the Communica­ Kumamon items last year in the consumers are willing to pay more ces are similar to those in Europe, based on intellectual property. Sales tion University of China lecturer, domestic and overseas markets From top: China’s first for pop culture characters if such ranging from 200 yuan to 280 yuan of toys and peripheral products, as said: “Most of the popular virtual reached a record high of 150.5 bil­ official Tintin shop was business is handled well. ($29 to $40) for adult­sized T­shirts, well as the construction and opera­ cartoon characters have displayed lion yen ($1.38 billion at today’s opened in Shanghai in According to a report by iRe­ and figurines costing from 100 to tion of theme parks, are the sector’s anthropomorphic personality rates). They had set a record for sev­ February; products are search, consumers among the coun­ more than 1,000 yuan. main source of revenue. traits. (Anthropomorphism is the en consecutive years, with the displayed at the Tintin try’s emerging middle class are “Many of the country’s Tintin fans Zhang Ning, 29, is a loyal fan of attribution of human traits, emo­ cumulative sales volume exceeding shop in Shanghai; a Miffy­ increasingly prepared to pay more are interested in limited­edition Miffy, a small female rabbit in a tions, or intentions to nonhuman 660 billion yen. themed subway carriage for licensed merchandise involving models rather than mass­produced series of picture books drawn and entities). Fujimoto Nobuhiro, Kumamoto in Shenzhen. their favorite film and TV charac­ key rings and trinkets, hoping to written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. “What separates the Line Friends prefecture’s representative in ters, as opposed to counterfeit items. own unique Tintin products,” Wang Zhang said she has spent nearly characters from ordinary emoticons Shanghai, said: “Kumamon is very In February, the first shop in Chi­ said. 10,000 yuan on Miffy products since is the strong emotional bond that popular in China. In fact, we 76.4 na themed on the iconic Belgian car­ “In the 1980s, most Chinese did junior high school. After she gave has developed between them and changed his official Chinese name billion yuan toon character Tintin opened in not have the chance to travel over­ birth to a daughter two years ago, their users.” in March just because we wanted to Shanghai after Spring Festival. seas, so Tintin opened a window for she has found more children’s items, The lecturer added, “Emotions revenue from products satisfy the Chinese fans.” related to cartoons and News of Tintin’s arrival in the city us into the rest of the world.” such clothing, footwear and crock­ mean sales, and the more the char­ The former name, a combination animation in China in went viral on social media and fans However, Tintin books were not ery that feature Miffy designs, rath­ acters can depict life or relate to of the written characters meaning 2017 from across the country flocked to officially published on the mainland er than those aimed at adults. human feelings, the more people “cool and cute”, is pronounced ku the store. until 2001. Chinese readers were “My first Miffy product was a ball­ will be willing to consume.”