Bandai has scored a hit with this toy that allows kids to make sushi at home.

Toys that allow children to try their hands at making real food – from chocolate snacks and ice cream to bread and sushi rolls – have achieved remarkable success in Japan. By the end of 2008, toy manufacturer Bandai had sold 150,000 units of its sushi roll set for kids, “Norimaki Makki”, launched the previous summer.

On the marketing side, this and other products were developed out of a clever strategic cooperation between companies from various sectors. Toy manufacturers, food distributors and supermarkets have worked together not only on product development, but also creating sales promotion campaigns for example online and in stores as the products drive sales of both the toys themselves and the required ingredients. The success of the sushi roll set in particular is remarkable not only for the fact that this is the first time that a toy that utilizes no cute cartoon characters has turned into a major hit among young girls. It is also a manifestation of a broader trend of Japanese parents looking for ways spend more quality time with their children.

This shift has been widely cited as one of the key factors driving the success of Nintendo’s Wii game console. However, food toys offer parents several more benefits. Whereas with the Wii, parents are likely to take a beating at the hands of their kids, activities like making sushi rolls put mothers in the driver seat and allow them to teach their daughters practical cooking skills as well as lessons about the value of food.

With the current economic situation likely to continue well into 2009, the market is likely to see more products that offer consumers multiple benefits and at the same time help manufacturers drive sales. For the toy sector, it is interesting to note that products released so far have been exclusively targeted at mothers and daughters, so manufacturers are not doubt looking at similar toys for fathers and sons.

Pampers Premium Care diapers.

The birth rates has been steadily falling in Japan, and marketers are hoping that as parents have fewer children, the will spend more on each child.

P&G Japan has released Pampers Premium Care, available exclusively through Babies ‘R Us, the Japanese retailer Akachan Honpo, and mail order. The price is around 2,000 yen for a package of 60, considerably more expensive than around 1,500 yen for the same number of normal Pampers. The premium diapers are said to be better at preventing diaper rash through improved air circulation.

Learn more:
Other P&G Products
P&G Japan Official Site (Japanese)

Sanei has released a new line of Barbie golf fashions for young women.

Mattel, the maker of the popular Barbie doll, will be launching a new golf fashion line this fall in partnership with Sanei-International Corporation. Sanei directs an upscale line of Barbie clothing targeted at young women. The new Barbie golf line of fashion will be tied up with Sanei’s Pearly Gates line of golf apparel. Barbie-themed apparel, which will feature a Barbie silhouette and logo, “proposes fresh sophistication to fashion-sensitive female golfers,” says Sanei.

There is already a line of Barbie golf wear for kids.

The Japanese are well known for their love of golf. World-renowned golf destination Pebble Beach was even owned by Japanese businessman Minoru Isutani in the ‘90s. But until recently golf has increasingly become a pastime of the older generation.

In a country where Barbie has her own (expensive) fashion line aimed at young women, it is not such a leap for Mattel to go from regular fashion to golf fashion. The question is what moves like this could do to the world of golf. Is the typical golf consumer getting younger?

Natalie Meyer