In industrious Japan, a lazy hero ambles to the top

Suddenly, Mickey Mouse's ears seem a bit too symmetrical, his smile too broad, his wacky adventures too narrowly ambitious. At least that's the growing sentiment in Japan.

Instead, in a sign that a new generation of laid-back Christopher Robins may be emerging here, sluggish and portly Winnie-the-Pooh has ambled past Mickey and longtime domestic favorite, Hello Kitty, in Japan's $13 billion character-goods market, according to a recent "hit chart" marketing report.

In Mickey's own house – Tokyo's Disney Resort – adults and kids alike queue for more than two hours for Honey Hunt, a ride based on the Pooh characters. Stores have created "Just Pooh" corners devoted to Winnie, Piglet, and Eeyore. There are even plans for a Pooh museum.

Pooh-san, as he is known here, might seem an unlikely hero in a country known for overachievers. But the bursting of the economic bubble here a decade ago caused a reconsideration of values. Since then, a "take it easy, get natural" vibe has taken root, leading to teens and 20-somethings who want to pamper themselves rather than follow their parents onto the corporate treadmill.

"Pooh seems to fit Japan right now – he makes people feel at ease in troubled times," says Kazuo Rikukawa, director of Character Databank, which produces the hit chart. "With society so uncertain, people are looking to characters for comfort rather than inspiration. Pooh is perfect in that role."

In one of the world's most competitive character-goods market, Pooh's rise to the top is impressive.

As well as the usual international rivals – such as Snoopy and Thomas the Tank Engine – domestic comic-book and animated-cartoon producers spin out hundreds of new titles and characters a year. Some, like Pokémon, Ultraman, and Doraemon, become Asian or global hits.

Overtaking Hello Kitty is even more remarkable as the mouthless cat has long been a symbol of that most essential of qualities for a modern Japanese woman: cuteness. In a country that puts a premium on childlike innocence, the goal of millions of fashion-conscious women is to be called "kawaii" or cute, even into into their 20s and 30s.

This has generated an enormous industry. Hello Kitty is ubiquitous not just on children's pencil cases, but also on handbags, cars, and bank accounts. Altogether she purrs contentedly at the heart of a 5,000-item empire worth about $3 billion.

But the latest sales figures suggests that Winnie the Pooh is now more in touch with the feelings of young Japanese.

Winnie, named after a real-life bear cub that had lost its mother, was created by A.A. Milne in 1926. The real bear, named Winnipeg, was donated to the London Zoo in 1919 by a lieutenant in the Canadian Army who had bought the cub for $20 from the hunter who had killed its mother.

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