Pekora meets Peko-chan, and this fan is powerless to resist.
On Tuesday morning, our reporter Seiji Nakazawa bounced out of bed with unusual energy, and as soon as he was ready, he dashed out the door and headed to Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood, where a number of high-end fashion brands have flagship stores. With his wallet stuffed with cash, Seiji was ready to do some serious shopping, but he wasn’t looking for clothes or accessories. No, he was in Ginza for virtual YouTuber merch.
As our resident otaku, there are multiple characters who tug on Seiji’s heartstrings, but few so vigorously as VTUber Usada Pekora. Tuesday was the start of a special event at Ginza’s Peko-chan House, and even before the doors opened at 11 a.m., there was already a line, with fans waiting near a giant piece of Usada Pekora artwork on the window.
The Peko-chan House name doesn’t refer to Pekora, though. Instead, it’s named after Peko-chan, the little girl mascot of Fujiya, one of Japan’s oldest and most popular cafe chains. Just about every branch of Fujiya, which started in Yokohama but now has locations nationwide, has a statue of Peko-chan out front, and Peko-chan House is normally stocked with souvenirs bearing the likeness of the Fujiya spokescharacter. With their names being so similar, though, it was only a matter of time until Peko-chan and Pekora collaborated on a project, and Peko-chan House is now offering a special line of Usada Pekora/Fujiya crossover merch.
▼ In the upper left corner of this photo you can see Pekora drawn in the style of Peko-chan, and in the center Pekora adorns special boxes of Fujiya’s beloved Milky-brand caramel candies.
▼ The Peko-chan statue at the Fujiya cafe branch next door, cosplaying as Pekora
Staff were letting fans into the store there or four people at a time, to prevent overcrowding. When Seiji finally got the go-ahead, he stepped through the door, where a life-size Pekora standee was there to welcome him.
His attention was next grabbed by the boxes and tins of Milky, with illustrations of Pekora dressed as Peko-chan and vice versa. Rather than try to choose between the original flavor and chocolate, he bought both.
▼ The boxes are 194 yen (US$1.45) and the tins 396 yen
He then picked up a few more boxes of Milky because they come as part of a bundle of acrylic mini standees of Pekora and Peko-chan for 3,300 yen.
And come on, it’s not like there was any chance he wasn’t going to pick up a wall scroll too, for 3,850 yen
▼ The tapestry is B2 size (70.7 by 50 centimeters [27.8 by 19.7 inches])
So Seiji’s total tab? 9,523 yen. Some might say that’s a lot to drop in one shopping trip, but for a fan like him, it’s money well spent. We’re happy for him, and happy for ourselves too, since now that he has a bunch of Usada Pekora Milky tins lined up on his desk…
…he’s got a lot of Milky candies for us to mooch off of him.
The Usada Pekora collaboration at Peko-chan house runs until July 10.
Location information
Peko-chan House / ペコちゃんのおうち
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 4-2-12
東京都中央区銀座4-2-12
Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Website
Photos ©SoraNews24
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