Three ways to deal with uncomfortably dry weather while also letting you go “Ahhhh! Isn’t Totoro/Calcifer/Jiji cute?”
Japan has a love/hate relationship with humidity. Once the rainy season starts in mid-June, you can be certain to hear people murmuring, or even groaning “Mushimushi shiteiru ne?” (“It’s so humid, isn’t it?”) until about the mid-point of September. Then, pretty much as soon as the autumn weather gets cool enough to be considered crisp, many people will start to say how the air is uncomfortably dry.
Having grown up in the atmospherically arid environment of Southern California, I’m honestly totally fine with the level of dryness in Japan during the fall and winter. As such, I’ve never personally seen much appeal in a humidifier, but even I can understand that if someone did want one, they’d want one of these awesomely adorable Studio Ghibli humidifiers.
These seasonal products are back in stock once again at Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku. The full lineup consists of three designs, and naturally we’re starting with a look at the Totoro one.
The water reservoir topper features both a big and small Totoro, with the larger forest spirit playing his ocarina, which the steam billows out of as the water is heated.
▼ There’s a trio of shy soot sprites too!
Each of the humidifiers stands 27 centimeters (10.6 inches) tall, with a base roughly the size of a drink bottle or thermos. That compact footprint makes the Little Humidifiers, as Donguri Kyowakoku calls them, suitable for use even in compact work/study spaces or other cozy nooks of your home.
Going form forest spirits to a fire one, joining Totoro in humidifier form is Calcifer, from Howl’s Moving Castle.
Calcifer’s design lends itself even more naturally to use as a humidifier, with the steam rising out from underneath the frying pan of on his back making it look like he’s right in the middle of cooking up that bacon-and-egg breakfast.
And rounding out the group is Jiji, the black cat companion of the titular heroine of Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Jiji’s topper also has a clever place that the steam rises from, as it comes out of the coffee mug he buys while shopping with Kiki as they set up her new apartment, creating the illusion that someone has just poured a fresh cup of java.
▼ Warning! Although Donguri Kyowakoku makes no official mention of the phenomenon, be aware that using the Jiji humidifier will almost certainly make you crave pancakes.
The humidifiers are identically priced at 5,280 yen (US$33) and come bundled with their USB power cord. They’re designed to automatically shut off after eight hours of continuous use, but since the bottles are also sized to hold enough water to humidify for eight hours too, once that much time passes you’ll need to refill the bottle anyway.
The entire lineup can be purchased through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here, and if you could use even more Calcifer in your home, these days he’s a cool candle nightlight too.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3)
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