Photos

A good way to check out what characters are popular in Japan is to go to the game center and see what is in the "UFO Catcher" machines. This time around I noticed that Winnie the Pooh is enjoying a new wave of popularity as well as a newcomer, The Dog.

Those of you into photography (as are most of us TrekEarthers) will be interested to learn that The Dog started off as a photography project where pictures of puppies were taken closeup at wide angles. After the photography gained in popularity various goods were created and The Dog won Japan's 2001 Character of the Year award. If you haven't seen The Dog images or products in your home country yet, you probably will shortly. I've seen it on a billboards in the USA already.
For more about The Dog Artlist Collection, check out the official web site at www.thedog-club.com