dreamshelf | MAMESHIBA: A BRIEF HISTORY

Allow me to introduce you to the wacky world of MAMESHIBA!! Just 'cause they don't seem to be very well known outside of Japan. The following pictures were taken at game centers in Fukuoka. SO! Their official description states, "Neither beans nor dogs, Mameshibas are very mysterious creatures. They sneakily show themselves in front of people to teach them their factoids."

Their creation seems to have been inspired by two puns. 'Mame,' meaning 'bean,' appears to be a word that is used to describe a miniature version of something. A small dog of the breed Shiba Inu is called a 'mameshiba,' so I'm guessing the creators thought it'd be clever to take the term LITERALLY, thus creating little bean dog characters. The second pun explains the Mameshibas' little factoid gimmick. 'Mamechishiki', or 'bean knowledge', is a Japanese word for 'factoid,' so the rest should be self-explanatory.

All in all, they're just some of those really cute Japanese merchandise characters, like Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma and what have you, except that they're, y'know, filled with PERSONALITY!

I might just be biased, but there's so much more to the shibas than just their cute exteriors. Their facts can be downright VILE, which is why the people in the Mameshiba videos always end up reacting the way they do. Also, each individual shiba has its own little personality! I'll be translating their respective personalities as I post their respective merchandise.