You can give gifts like Mei this May.

Though she doesn’t have very much screentime, the mother in My Neighbor Totoro is a major presence throughout the anime classic. It’s in order to be closer to the facility where she’s receiving medical treatment that sisters Mei and Satsuki move with their father to the countryside (which in turn allows them to meet the titular forest spirit), and the film’s dramatic climax is set off when Mei, wanting to show her love for her mother, sets out alone to deliver a humble present, an ear of corn, to her hospitalized parent.

With Mother’s Day coming up soon, Mei’s sentiment feels particularly touching, and so Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku wants to let you show your appreciation in the same way for the woman who brought you into this world.

The Corn Gift Set (“Tomorokoshi Gift Set” in Japanese) does differ from Mei’s present in that it doesn’t contain any actual produce. Instead, it’s a bundle of two adorable household items with gift-wrapping that looks like an ear of corn rustically still in its husk.

▼ “For Mom” is written on the wrapping, in Mei’s heartwarmingly shaky little-kid handwriting.

The first of the items is an oven mitt that also looks like an ear of corn, with Totoro and a couple of cute little Soot Sprites making guest appearances.

▼ An especially touching detail is the patch with “arigato,” Japanese for “thank you.”

As for where to keep the mitt when not pulling delicious fresh-baked treats out of your oven, the other part of the gift pack has that covered, since it’s a magnet with a hanging hook.

That hook is shaped like a small-size white Totoro, poking its head out from a sliced corn cross-section, which is magnetized on the other end.

The set goes on sale April 16 at physical Donguri Kyowakoku stores priced at 3,000 yen (US$24.20), but you can also buy the mitt and magnet separately, for 1,760 or 990 yen (the extra 250 yen charged for the set is the cost of the wrapping). Alternatively, the Corn Gift Set is available for purchase right now through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here, but with May 8, Mother’s Day, as the only selectable delivery date.

Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Donguri Kyowakoku
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[ Read in Japanese ]