With their bright red color and adorable heart shape, it’s no surprise that strawberries are one of the most popular kawaii motifs! The use of strawberries, called ichigo in Japanese, in kawaii art goes way back, starting with the godfather of kawaii himself, Yumeji Takahisa. Yumeji often used strawberries on book bindings, envelopes, and decorative paper.
During the post-war Showa period, Naito Rune started embellishing his illustrations with strawberries, sparking a ‘strawberry boom’ during the 50s and 60s. One of his most iconic works is the cover of Junior Soleil shown below featuring a young girl wearing a strawberry-patterned scarf:
In fact, it is said that a cute strawberry-patterned scarf served as the inspiration for Sanrio’s founder, Shintaro Tsuji, to launch a line of strawberry-themed goods in 1962. This marked Sanrio’s (then called Yamanashi Silk Company) first foray into the world of “fancy goods.”
This connection between Sanrio and strawberries didn’t end there. Over the years, there have been numerous Hello Kitty themes featuring strawberries, and Sanrio even opened a strawberry-shaped store. Sanrio’s monthly publication showcasing new characters and themes is called Ichigo-Shinbum, which translates to “Strawberry News.” Not only that, but the Sanrio character, Ichigo-No-Osama (aka the strawberry king) was born 12/7/1975, the same dates a Tsuji birthday! Coincidence?!?
Strawberry themes continue to be a mainstay of kawaii art with recent themes from San-X and Sanrio popping up all the time. One of the cutest San-X themes of 2021 so far (yes, I know it’s only March…) has to be the crossover with Corocorno and Sentimental Circus:
