An exhibition centred on the hugely popular Japanese manga series Chiikawa will be held in Hong Kong this summer, with the event to include eight localised characters created in the form of dim sum such as har gow and siu mai as part of the city’s latest efforts to cash in on the intellectual property economy.
The exhibition’s organiser, Hong Kong design studio AllRightsReserved, will sell tickets and distribute free ones for the three-week “Chiikawa Days” show in August.
The show will have indoor and outdoor elements in Tsim Sha Tsui and will be subject to stringent crowd control management.
The show is part of efforts to encourage Hongkongers to remain in the city with their families over the summer, at a time when more residents are crossing the border for various holidays.
It is the second summer in a row that the studio has hosted such an event, with last year seeing it hold a Doraemon show.
“The city has the necessary talent and experience, supported by a robust legal framework. However, to successfully develop the IP economy, including hosting IP-related events, one crucial element is uniqueness and localisation,” AllRightsReserved founder Lam Shu-kam told the Post on Wednesday.
Chiikawa, which means “something small and cute”, is the name of the titular hamster protagonist created by Japanese artist Nagano.
The series gained popularity as a web comic in 2017, capturing fans’ hearts with its adorable characters while exploring deeper themes of survival and failure.
The popularity of the manga and its merchandise in Hong Kong previously led to chaos in packed shops and inflated prices on the resale market.
In April, Chiikawa goods went up for sale at Harbour City shopping centre and attracted hundreds of buyers and scalpers, leading to disputes over people jumping queues.
AllRightsReserved said the coming exhibition would be held between August 1 and 24 at K11 Musea shopping centre.
Its promotional campaign will involve collaborations with other companies such as insurance firm Manulife, contactless payment system Octopus and fast food chain McDonald’s.
The show will display more than 100 three-dimensional sculptures of Chiikawa characters, a nine-metre-tall (29.5-feet-tall) inflatable set and lifelike recreations of scenes from the manga.
An anticipated highlight of the event will be the showcasing of eight characters specially designed for Hong Kong and inspired by the city’s yum cha culture.
They are Chiikawa Chinese thousand-layer cake, Hachiware Chinese sausage roll, Usagi siu mai, Momonga glutinous rice dumpling, Shisa rice roll, Kurimanju beef siu mai, Rakko sponge cake and Furuhonya har gow.
Tickets to the show will be available on the online travel platform Klook from July 5.
As part of the launch, a free outdoor show will be held at Salisbury Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui on the same day. Chiikawa mascots will be on display for selfies.
About 10,000 free gifts, including balloons and limited editions of character party sets, will be given away to visitors at four MTR stations on Sunday and at Salisbury Garden on July 5.
Interested parties must register via Klook in advance and obtain a QR code for redemption as part of crowd management measures. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
