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Disney meets classic Japan — see your favorite characters reborn as traditional Japanese crafts!

Kay Jun 18, 2015
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It’s no secret that Disney has been hugely successful in Japan. The Japanese anime industry may have cultivated a unique style over the years that’s quite different from that of the international entertainment giant, but the public here in Japan definitely seems to love all things Disney, from beautiful lingerie to adorable mini-cakes.

So we guess it’s not too surprising that Disney characters have now been recreated using traditional Japanese crafts, which is the concept behind the Disney Japan Classic Series of merchandise. Join us for a look at what delightful forms the familiar Disney characters have taken at the hands of traditional Japanese artisans!

The Disney Japan Classic Series is being offered by Japanese furniture and interior brand Wise･Wise and includes an interesting range of attractive products that should appeal to even casual Disney fans. Below are just some of the items from the series.

▼Here we have a pair of Mickey and Minnie glasses made by KIMOTO GLASS TOKYO using the “Edo Glass” technique that was developed in the late 19th century in the Tokyo area historically known as Edo. Each glass is hand-blown by an Edo Glass artisan and costs 12,000 yen (US$97.25) a pair.

Disney Japan Classic Series

▼ This adorably playful item is the “Mickey Izumonokuni Kagamimochi Tea Set” (17,500 yen [$141.82]), made in the form of a kagamimochi, the decorative mochi cake that is often used to celebrate the New Year and usually presented with a tangerine on top.

Disney Japan Classic Series

▼ When the parts of the tea set are taken apart, what appeared as the white mochi cake becomes a tea-cup, the tangerine a piece on which a Japanese-style tea cake fork can be placed and the plate on the bottom a Japanese-style ceramic ware on which to serve the tea cake.

Disney Japan Classic Series

▼ This is the cute and artful “Mickey Arita porcelain One Soup Three Dish Set” (23,000 yen [$186.39]) created by the Riso Porcelain Studio, consisting of a main plate, rice bowl and soup bowl.

Disney Japan Classic Series

▼ And here’s an item that might see a lot of action in the hot summer months — ice cream spoons made from a high-purity aluminum-magnesium alloy. The spoons from design company TAKATKA Lemnos are available in several versions including Olaf (left) and Winnie-the-Pooh (right) for 5,800 yen ($47.01) each or 16,800 yen ($136.18) for the set of three Winnie-the-Pooh spoons.

Disney Japan Classic Series (edited by Rocket News24)

▼ They also have a line of adorable **traditional zori-style slippers that you can wear as room shoes, made by the MERI brand. The slippers are available in both adult and children’s sizes, all priced at 8,800 yen ($71.32) a pair.

Disney Japan Classic Series (edited by RocketNews24)

▼ The slippers look adorable worn, don’t they? Plus, they seem super comfortable too.

Wise･Wise Disney Japan Classic Series page

▼ If you’re feeling poetic, how about using this “Winnie-the-Pooh Birudan Japanese Paper Honey Pot Letter Set” (3,600 yen [$29.17]) to put your thoughts onto paper? The material is made from valuable Birudan washi (Japanese paper), and they’ve even added the scent of honey to the plant ingredient used to produce the washi.

Disney Japan Classic Series

▼ This beautiful item is a traditional Japanese furin (wind chime), each hand-made from brass by the 100-year-old metal craft company Nosaku and priced at 6,900 yen ($55.92). The chime is designed to look like Pooh Bear is floating in the air with a balloon.

Disney Japan Classic Series

So, what did you think of the fusion of Disney characters and traditional Japanese crafts? Some of the items, we admit, are quite pricey, but we think they’re still a huge pleasure to look at. If you’re going to be in Tokyo and interested in seeing the actual products, the Disney Japan Classic Series items are available at the WISE･WISE tools shop in the Tokyo Midtown shopping complex in Roppongi from June 18 to September 23, and also at the temporary WISE･WISE shop at the Seibu Shibuya Department Store from June 30 for an undetermined period of time while the shop remains open. Japan may already be full of Disney products, but really, we can never have too much “cute” in this world, can we?

Source: Wise･Wise Disney Japan Classic Series page, Disney Japan Classic Series webiste via Japaaan magazine