Before we headed back home from Harajuku we made a short stop at the LINE Friends Store.
© LINE Corporation
In Germany it’s only slowly gaining popularity because most people use WhatsApp but in Japan (and I think in Asia in general) LINE is one of the most used communication tools. I don’t use it that often myself because with my husband I mainly use Kakao-Talk. LINE and Kakao Talk are like two peas in a pot as Kakao Talk is a South Korean invention while LINE is from a japanese company BUT from the korean branch office. They are really quite similar and what both have in common are the absolutely adorable stickers you can send with your messages.
© LINE Corporation
Though there are daily new stickers for LINE (from popular Anime, Manga, TV-Shows, etc.) there are a few basic ones which kind of make a small family of characters. The main characters are Cony & Brown – the bunny and bear that are in love, Moon – a bald person which has all kinds of personalities and James – the pretty boy who cares about his appearance over everything else.
So last year in december the “LINE Friends Store” opened, where you can buy Merchandise from your favorite LINE character or take a photo with it. For me the main attraction was the gigantic Brown that sat in a corner (^_^)
© Sakura_Fujiko
When you are using LINE I think a visit at the store is fun and you might even feel tempted to buy a cute little Cony plushy or a Brown-style apron, but for everyone who doesn’t know or use the application it’s probably onyl a “huh, funny” moment.
I lost my heart in Japan 
I never heard of line before. I only use WeChat (weixin) which is the most used application in China and also being used world wide now as they brought out the English version few years ago. These stickers are of course also included there but I have never ever used them or looked at them 🙂
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