Doll's world: 'Japan's Barbie' casts spell over grown-ups

Mar 02, 2023 | News On Japan

Mar 02, 2023 (enca.com) - With her wide eyes and demure smile, Licca-chan is known as "Japan's Barbie". And her appeal is spreading to all ages, with adults turning the doll into a social media superstar.

One fan posts wry videos of the plastic poppet to over a million Instagram followers, while others painstakingly craft miniature clothes and share photos of their fashion shoots.

Licca-chan has been a favourite of Japanese children since she appeared in toy shops in 1967, and manufacturer Takara Tomy has sold over 60 million of them.

The company's official biography casts her as an 11-year-old girl with a Japanese designer mother and a French musician father.

At 22 centimetres tall, she is smaller and less glamorous than Barbie, who Murayama describes as "a supermodel" compared with Licca-chan's more "familiar" look. ...continue reading

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