Toymaker Tomy Co. has created limited-edition Licca-chan dolls inspired by the famed Hula Girls dance troupe from disaster-hit Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
Toymaker Tomy Co. has created limited-edition Licca-chan dolls inspired by the famed Hula Girls dance troupe from disaster-hit Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
Tomy unveiled two versions of the dolls—one a hula dancer and the other a Tahitian dancer—on June 13.
Priced at 3,780 yen ($40) including tax, 1,500 dolls of each version will go on sale July 10 at Licca-chan Castle, the combined doll factory and museum in Ono, Fukushima Prefecture, at Spa Resort Hawaiians in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, where the Hula Girls perform, and online at Tomy’s website.
The Hula Girls not only perform hula dances at the resort, but also started giving special lessons this year to elementary school students across the country. Through the lessons, the dancers demonstrate the hula dance and discuss their experiences and perseverance during the Great East Japan Earthquake, which devastated their local area in March 2011.
Tomy's public relations official said that it designed the limited-edition dolls to reflect the dancers' inspiring performance and attitude.