KMAKICI: from plush toy to pop star
When Raityo Tsume started making custom handmade plush toys in 2017 - there’s no way she could’ve predicted one of them becoming a pop star within the next 2 years.
Born in 1991 in Hokkaido, Raityo set up a simple web-store to sell her handmade dolls. The asymmetrical, quirky design of each doll gave them a unique look and customers quickly latched onto the cute creations.
It wasn’t long before one toy in particular, Kmakici (pronounced kumakichi), became a fan favorite. First created in Dec 2017, a Kmakici Twitter appeared in Jan 2019 with videos of the plush dancing and singing to original songs. The catchy songs and the toy’s goofy appearance amassed the account 5000 followers within 3 months. Capitalizing on this sudden success, the first Kmakici CD was soon released with 19 tracks. Featuring cutesy autotuned lyrics over simple casio type beats - the release further boosted the character's popularity. By the end of 2019 - the Twitter account had 40,000 followers.
In 2020, Kmakici collaborated with brands such as Village Vanguard to produce keychains, phone cases, clothing and more. At present, the character has reached 75,000 Twitter followers and is working on a 4th album release. The music has pivoted from the simple early sound to a more interesting hyperpop-adjacent sound. The biggest single to date is undoubtedly 「眠れない TO NIGHT」- a driving dance track with absolutely ridiculous but lovable lyrics. There is even a Karaoke-kan collaboration so that die hard fans can sing along on a night out.
Raityo’s other creations have suffered from living in the shadow of Kmakici but characters such as Yumekichi, Kintaro, Usaji and Marinpurin are equally as cute. The success of Raityo’s brand means that most of the items are perpetually sold out. You’ll need to keep an eye on the new release events which have a tendency to sell out in a few minutes.
Raityo and Kmakici have achieved something equally ridiculous and incredible in the last few years. Perfectly straddling the boundary between kawaii and emerging musical trends - they have created a unique and likeable character that is taking Japanese social media by storm.
