JAPAN TRENDS


Sanrio, the people behind of Japan’s most successful character franchises like Hello Kitty and My Melody, have started a new digital character creation service called Chanrio Maker.

Chanrio Maker allows you to build and customize a cute 2D avatar in the style of Chanrio, a character unique to Sanrio Puroland, Sanrio’s theme park in Tama New Town, a Tokyo suburb.



You can start from scratch with the Chanrio templates or with photos. After choosing a gender and a name, you then begin editing your avatar via the generator.

Many of the options have several pages of choices, with a colorful array of accessories, costumes and other extras.
Once you are done, you can download your character as png file. The name is displayed with a “-chanrio” suffix.

There are certain branded Sanrio digital items that can also be added on the generator platform, but you ned a password to unlock them.





You have to go to Sanrio Puroland to find the hidden passwords — a neat tactic that connects the online project with Sanrio’s off-line services as a promo perfectly timed for the summer. You can also get a Chanrio Card printed with your personal avatar, giving you perks and discounts at Puroland.

The service only launched on July 10th and it has already been used by over 2 million people.