Choken Bako: Cute Japanese piggy bank

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

choken_bako

Japan sure has a thing for weird piggy banks, as we blogged many times in the past. And now Happinet, a company belonging to the Bandai Namco group, is ready to roll out a dog-themed model. Needless to say, this one’s quite unique, too.

The so-called Choken Bako is essentially a savings box with a cute figure of a dog on top of it. You can “feed” the dog by throwing up to three coins into his bowl. Once you do that, he’ll start to quickly”eat” them up and stand still again. So concept-wise, this is very similar to the penguin-themed piggy bank that went on sale in August.

choken_bako_2

Happinet plans to to ship the first Coken Bako in Japan at the end of this month for $26. They’re Japan-only, but you can contact import stores like the Japan Trend Shop or Geek Stuff 4 U if you’re interested in getting one.

Via Kaden Watch [JP]

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