Let’s have a look at what’s happening at Japanese kawaii brand San-X for December. It’s a quieter month but still has new themes for Rilakkuma & Sumikko Gurashi, plus some fun plush for the year of the horse. Shopping links and info is at the end of the post and some of the collections also have free wallpapers.
Makeup Rilakkuma is a perfect theme for winter when we all need a bit of pampering and self care. Korilakkuma & Kogumachan are the main characters this time but Rilakkuma & Kiiroitori soon join in too. If you love a girly theme, everything is in soft, gentle colours with bows, hearts, ruffles and sparkles.
If you need some new pouches and bags, you have plenty to choose from here including plush pouches, vanity case and tote bag. There’s also lots of makeup and beauty products like brushes, sponges, lip balm, fragrance mist, nail tips and hair accessories (the latter 2 have other characters too). If you’re not into beauty, you can still enjoy the plush and stationery, and don’t miss the adorable bear-shaped mugs.
Sumikko Gurashi are unwinding in a different way with a Gummy Gummy Party! After discovering some Tapioca-shaped gummies, the gang decide to celebrate the joys of squishy, sparkly, stretchy and cool gummies. You really can’t go wrong with a candy theme as it’s a great excuse for packaging designs and using all the colours.
It’s a little surprising that this collection mainly focuses on stationery, but I’m certainly not complaining! The gummy packaging has inspired some fun stuff like a pencil case, fold-up shopping bag and eraser sets, plus there’s squishy stickers, pens, memo pads and gummy-shaped hair clips and phone straps. There are some plushies too and my favourites are the flat ones that come with a fold-around keychain to hang on your bag.
As always, there are new plushies for 2026 and the Year of the Horse usually causes some issues with creating something cute that still looks like the character. Rilakkuma have cleverly gone for a cowboy theme instead. I love the horse ear cowboy hats, and that they each have a belt buckle of their favourite thing.
Sumikko Gurashi’s are much more entertaining and I may be over-tired but by the time I scrolled down to Tapioca wearing a removable horse’s head and Ebi-Fry perched on a rocking horse holding a carrot balloon, I was pretty much dead. Never change, San-X.
It’s worth browsing the whole month’s releases as there’s a lot of other fun stuff like patches that you can use to decorate keychains and pouches, bento/lunch accessories, a sleepy Rilakkuma mini collection and a whole load of mini plushies of retro characters.
How to buy San-X
All the products for December are in the San-X shop now (FYI I can only access the shop with a VPN – not sure if this a temporary issue or a UK ban). Almost everything listed is available to buy now, with some things coming next week, but you’ll need to use a forwarding service outside Japan. Otherwise you need to keep an eye on official resellers, who may also have items that are already sold out at San-X. AmiAmi (JP) does pre-orders before release, Kawaii Republic (JP) and Meccha Japan (JP) do both pre-order and in stock items, while Very Goods (JP) usually add most items within a few days or weeks. International shops can take longer, from weeks to many months – we recommend Cuteness (EU – also do preorders), ARTBOX (UK) and Oshoppu (UK). Use our guide to The Best Kawaii Shops Worldwide for more options. US fans also now have an official San-X store on Amazon, mostly with products made for the US market.
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