Collaboration merchandise between ‘Chiikawa’ and bookstores, “Chiikawa Bookstore”, will be released exclusively at bookstores nationwide from March 23. The original work of ‘Chiikawa’ is the webcomic which has been posted on Twitter by the illustrator Nagano since 2020. With its surreal combination of the small and cute characters and sarcastic style, the work has gained popularity from a wide range of fans including both adults and children and ranked 8th in the “Trend Prediction 2022” published by ‘Nikkei Trendy’ and ‘Nikkei Cross Trend’. The work has been attracting the public’s attention every time a new collaboration launches, including the network outage due to heavy access in December 2020 when the official online store opened for merchandise sales. The previous collaboration merchandise with convenience stores and the Japan Post Office sold out immediately on the release date. The latest collaboration ‘Chiikawa Bookstore’ will include items with newly-drawn illustrations, which shows the trio, Chiikawa, Hachiware, and Usagi, holding their favorite books. The lineup includes ‘Eyeglasses Case’, ‘Block Puzzle’, ‘Neck Strap’, ‘3-Charm Keychain’, ‘Book Cover’, ‘Boxed Sticker Roll’, and ‘Mini Towel’. In addition, there will be bonus gifts including ‘Comic Book Cover’ for those who purchase the comic book and ‘Clear Bookmark’ for those who purchase one of the collaboration items. The collaboration merchandise ‘Chiikawa Bookstore’ will be available at 333 bookstores nationwide starting on March 23. In addition, pop-up stores will be located at 8 stores including MARUZEN Marunouchi Main Store. Visit the official webpage for more details. （C）nagano