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San-X is a Japanese company that specializes in the creation, production and marketing of goods featuring anime-style anthropomorphic characters such as Kogepan, Nyan Nyan Nyanko and Afro Ken. Characters usually relate to some aspect of Japanese culture: Tissue-san was a character developed to encourage Japanese schoolchildren to use tissues when they have a cold or flu.

A picture of the San-X character Yogurt-kun. The Japanese text reads "Do you like yogurt?"

The characters' personalities are well-developed, with each character having its own quirky traits. For instance, Momobuta is a pig with a head shaped like a peach, who enjoys karaoke and painting her nails. Mikanbouya is an orange who likes candy and dislikes cold weather.

San-X was founded in April 1932 as a privately-owned business under the name "Chida Handler". In October 1941, Chida Handler became a limited company. Chida Handler's name was changed to San-X in May 1973.

• Afro Ken - a dog with an afro [1]
• Buru Buru Dog - an extremely tiny, constantly trembling and weeping dog, radiating pure love [2]
• Kyoo Usa - a bunny rabbit
• Mamegoma - little seals that enjoy eating soybeans [3]
• Momobuta - a pig with a head shaped like a peach, who enjoys karaoke and painting her nails [4]
• Monokuro Boo - a black pig and a white pig. There is usually a bee buzzing around them, and the phrase "Simple is Best"[5]
• Nakayoshi Net - a collection of happy animals [6]
• Nemui Neko - a sleepy cat [7]
• Nijinomukou - another collection of happy animals, drawn in a more sketchy style [8]
• Nyan Nyan Nyanko - little cats that transmogrify into, most commonly, food, and school supplies [9]
• Rilakkuma - a brown bear who lives the house of an office lady (OL) named Kaoru [10]
• Tarepanda (or Tare Panda) - a lazy panda [11] [12]
• Wan Wan Wanco - a collection of dogs, real dog photos with drawn backgrounds [13]

• Amagurichan - a character based on chestnuts [14] [15]
• Cheese Family - a collection of cheese characters [16] [17]
• Ginshari San - a little rice grain who is often found at the bottom of the rice bowl. We wonder why he's always found there, we reckon he doesn't want to be eaten. By hiding in the bottom of the bowl, he gets to take a nap and avoid chopsticks! [18] [19]
• Kogepan - a burnt red bean bread bun who lives in a panya (Japanese bakery), trying to fit in and make friends with the other bread items. Happiness for him is always short-lived, so he has the tendency to get drunk on milk. [20]
• Mamepyon - a pea family [21]
• Mikanbouya (or Mikan Bouya) - an orange who likes candy and dislikes cold weather [22] [23]
• Omusubiya-san - Onigiri (Japanese rice balls)
• Sugar Recipe- an assortment of different cakes and doughnuts with cute smiley faces
• Yogurt-kun - Yogurt Kun is a little yogurt baby who helps a constipated and uncomfortable rabbit make adorable little poos so that he can go about his happy little rabbit business. Cute little Yogurt Kun enjoys sitting in milk, and have honey poured over him. It's available in different flavors.

• Kinokoron - a mushroom
• Wancactus - a cactus (part of Wanroom)

• Tissue-san - a box of facial tissues
• Wanroom - a collection of household items, including a couch, stereo, cactus, etc. They have dog faces.

• Atsugari-san - a spirit who hates the cold and loves hot dumplings. He's a faerie who is found at places where the temperature is over 30 degrees Celcius - like tea, hot food and such. He is also called "Hot Head". He operates in groups, and perspires 10 buckets of sweat per day. He's not of danger to mankind - although not of much use either..! His favorite food is dumplings. Atsugari-san is afraid of Samugari-san, who is his exact opposite. [24]
• Beer-chan- a beer fairy who enjoys beer [25]
• Nagomimakuri - a friendly spirit who lives in clear waters and deep in the forest. It resembles a salamander but is still different in some ways. Her main features is her soft form and the way she moves around. It leads a lazy life in the nature and rolls here and there slowly. [26]
• Samugari-san - a spirit who loves the cold and is the antagonist of Atsugari-san. He's a faerie who is found at places where the temperature below zero and stays beside people who tell scary stories or boring jokes. He is also called "Cold Head" and is only seen when captured inside ice cubes. As soon as the ice melts he vanishes. He operates on his own. His weakness is that if his scarf (which is made from his hair) is removed, he'll catch a cold. His favorite food is jelly. Samugari san dislikes Atsugari-san.

• San-X Official Website (Japanese)
• San-X wholesale with character profiles
• San-X lisencing agent with more character profiles

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