Toys targeting ‘kidults’ featured at Tokyo Toy Show 2024

About 35,000 toy items from 190 Japanese and foreign companies are being showcased at International Tokyo Toy Show 2024 that opened Thursday, including classic toys that have evolved with an aim to attract “kidults,” or adults with a kid-like spirit.
The show, one of the largest toy trade fairs in Japan, will run through Sunday at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in the capital’s Koto Ward. It will be opened to the public on the last two days, while the first two days are reserved for business-related visitors.
The size of the domestic toy market exceeded ¥1 trillion for the first time in fiscal 2023, led by products targeted at kidults.
Tomy, also known as Takara Tomy, exhibited a new set from its flagship “Licca-chan” dress-up doll series called “Photogenic LiccA,” which can strike many different poses thanks to an increased number of joints, hoping to capture the attention of women who enjoy taking photos of dolls for sharing on social media.
Bandai Spirits’s “Chogokin (superalloy) Rubik’s Cube,” also on display at the show, is aimed at drawing the interest of adults who played with toys made of superalloy in their childhood.
Bandai’s “Gashapon 90mm Capsule” toys, the biggest in its Gashapon series, include realistic beetle toys, and are expected to attract demand for souvenirs from foreign visitors to Japan.
General admission to the show is free for visitors up to junior high school age and priced at ¥1,800 for those in high school and older.
The Japan Toy Association, the organizer of the show, hope to see 60,000 visitors during the two-day period open to the public.