As you already know, last December we attended NiMI festival in Florence, hosting many stalls from Japan. Between a gadget and another, our attention was drawn to a real invasion of chicks, Piyodamari (whose name literally means “pond of chicks”).
Piyodamari stall at NiMI Festival
Piyodamari was created in the late 90s by Hikaru Suemasa, famous as the designer of San-x Tarepanda. The real debut for small Piyos happened in 1998 at the Design Festa, one of the largest international art events, held twice a year in Tokyo. In 2001, the group welcomed the chicken Niwa, eternal “victim” of the invading chicks.
Thanks also to a series of fun movies (in which the Piyos’ chirping is as annoying as hypnotic), Piyodamari reaches a good popularity, especially in Korea, where they have become protagonists of two video games, Piyodamari DS and Piyodamari: Eat Up!, the latter available for iPhone, with poor Niwa struggling with weight gain of Piyos, apparently with a very sweet tooth.
Obviously, there are a lot of accessories and gadgets, with the fantastic Piyos as protagonists, especially in an adorable mini version, very small and made of towelling. We could not miss the chance to bring one of them at home with us! :love:
Piyodamari stall at NiMI Festival