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Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season

Casey Baseel Sep 30, 2023
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Filled with tiny details to delight fans of Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Howl’s Moving Castle too.

Japan has a love/hate relationship with humidity. Hot and muggy is pretty much the forecast for every single day of the summer months, but once we’re out of summer and the weather cools off, you can expect people to be grumbling in short order about how dry the weather is, making their skin uncomfortably itchy.

To cope with the dryness at home, many people plug in a room humidifier. But while Japanese electronics and houseware stores stock a wide variety of the little gadgets, last year people who wanted their living spa both humidified and adorable flooded Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku, which was selling compact humidifiers featuring characters from My Neighbor Totoro and other works by the Hayao Miyazaki-founded anime studio.

Unfortunately, the high quality and loving attention to detail of Donguri Kyowakoku’s creations means that their items often sell out in a flash, especially for essentially seasonal products like the desktop humidifiers. Fortunately, with dry days on the way once again, the Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back in stock, with all four versions available as of this writing.

Naturally, you can’t ignore Totoro when putting together a line of Ghibli merch. The cuddly character stands on a tree trunk while blowing steam out of his ocarina on this humidifier topper, and there’s even a small Totoro for a double dose of cuteness.

Black cat Jiji is the representative for the Kiki’s Delivery Service model, here perched on Kiki’s breakfast table next to the coffee mug she purchases (at Jiji’s urging) upon arriving in her new town, plus a stack of thick pancakes. In a clever touch, the humidifier’s steam rises from the coffee cup, making it look like it’s actually filled with a fresh cup of java.

▼ See what we meant about Donguri Kyowakoku being detail-oriented?

There’s more culinary cleverness with the Howl’s Moving Castle humidifier, where fire spirit (and sometimes toy car) Calcifer is grilling up a full frying pan of bacon and eggs…

…and for Spirited Away, there’s steam rising from a tub at bathhouse of the gods, which is currently occupied by a trio of birds, with one more waiting to hop in.

▼ This sometimes happens at real-world bathhouses in Japan too (the having to wait to get into a crowded tub part, not the giant birds).

Though the shape of the bottle is the same for all four humidifiers, each has its own subtle logo, with No Face showing up on the Spirited Away one.

Power is supplied by a USB cable, and the devices’ compact size means they can easily share desk space with your laptop.

The humidifiers are identically priced at 5,280 yen (US$35.70) each, and can be ordered through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4)
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