Rilakkuma (リラックマ, Rirakkuma?, a combination of the Japanese pronunciation of relax and the Japanese word for bear) is a Japanese character produced by the San-X company. Rilakkuma debuted in 2003. Rilakkuma and Tarepanda, another San-X character, have been described as "huge hits in Japan" by The New York Times. Rilakkuma ranks as the fifth most popular character in Japan in the most recent survey of the Character Databank.
