A happy new year to you all from everyone at SCK! We hope 2026 will be filled with cuteness, happiness, colour and creativity. The year of the horse starts on January 1st in Japan and it’s always a tricky one to combine with kawaii characters. It’s been really fun seeing what they’ve come up with for plushies and here’s some of my favourites.
I always love to see the lucky boxes at HAPiNS (JP) and they have 2026 lucky boxes for both the Fuku Fuku Nyanko cats and Hannari Tofu. Having the cats riding horses is a very smart solution but horse tofu is also surprisingly cute. Most of the box contents are not horse-themed and you get a really good mix of useful homeware, accessories and lifestyle items. I got the 2021 cats box (which also includes a guide to ordering internationally) and thought it was great value.
If you’re a fan of Hello Kitty & Friends, there’s plenty to choose from! Sanrio USA’s limited edition plush is absolutely hilarious with a smiley face horse costume and fluffy tail, but sadly already sold out. Kidrobot (US) is a close second though, with Hello Kitty and a gold horse, and there’s also a cute zodiac plush with removable horse hood. Sanrio Japan have new lucky bags for 2026 with a plush, tote bag, bath towel, socks and more, while VeryGoods (JP) have the smaller keychain plush in pastel colours and horse costumes.
I already showed you the Rilakkuma & Sumikko Gurashi cowboy & carrot plushies last month but San-X (JP) also have another set of Rilakkuma plush dressed in horse costumes and Kiiroitori’s is very silly. See what’s left in the new year collection.
None of the Japanese shops above ship internationally but you can use a forwarding service or some of the plush are available through Kawaii Republic or VeryGoods who both ship worldwide from Japan.
We’ll catch up with our sponsors on Saturday and then we’ll be posting normally from Monday with the Winter Pusheen Box, New Year TokyoTreat & Sakuraco highlights, printable 2026 calendars, journaling tips and lots more.
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