About Yujin, Kitan Club, IKIMON and their relationship

1988, Yujin founded.
2006, Furuya Daiki brought Junya Sato, KOW and a group of people to start a new company - Kitan Club. And established the Nature Techni Colour brand, referred to as NTC.
2008, Yujin was acquired by Takara Tomy.
2014, Junya Sato brought  KOW and a group of people to start a new company - IKIMON. Nature Techni Colour brand was also brought.

Thank you, you have a phantastic knowledge. Exists Yujin animal figures since 1988? That was what i mean with my question for old figures?

And when started Kaiyodo?

And do you know more brands?

And is it possible that Kitan have a set of snakes?

widukind wrote:

Thank you, you have a phantastic knowledge. Exists Yujin animal figures since 1988? That was what i mean with my question for old figures?

And when started Kaiyodo?

And do you know more brands?

1. The first animal figures was chocoegg, Kaiyodo and Futura collaborated in 1999, Yujin started making animal figures in 2002.
2. Miyawaki started Kaiyodo in 1964, now Miyawaki Shuichi is CEO, Kaiyodo is a family business.
3. The list in forum is more comprehensive, other brands like KORO KORO, Qualia, Kenelephant，they also making some animal figures. There are some chinese brands making some animal figures too, if you are interested, I will update some information about them.

widukind wrote:

And is it possible that Kitan have a set of snakes?

I don't know.
If you like snakes figures, I recommend a set of Poison Fang Assassin Poison Snake, it's from Takara Tomy.
NTC-NOJ2 have a snake, Kaiyodo chocoQ have some snakes.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Very interesting information. Because most of us don't read Japanese or Chinese, this kind of information is very difficult for us to get.

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

1988, Yujin founded.
2006, Furuya Daiki brought Junya Sato, KOW and a group of people to start a new company - Kitan Club. And established the Nature Techni Colour brand, referred to as NTC.
2008, Yujin was acquired by Takara Tomy.
2014, Junya Sato brought  KOW and a group of people to start a new company - IKIMON. Nature Techni Colour brand was also brought.

I hope you don't mind me asking some more questions. What is KOW? Who is Junya Sato, did he already have a company before Kitan? Are Yujin and Ikimon-NTC unrelated, or do you mean they are also related? Thank you!

I'd be very interested in learning about other brands too. I have never heard of Kenelephant, for example. Chinese brands would be interesting too, especially if you know how we can buy their models outside China.

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

widukind wrote:

And is it possible that Kitan have a set of snakes?

I don't know.
If you like snakes figures, I recommend a set of Poison Fang Assassin Poison Snake, it's from Takara Tomy.
NTC-NOJ2 have a snake, Kaiyodo chocoQ have some snakes.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thank you :) that snake set i have. I have seen on FB snakes that i dont know. I will send you a picture if it i okay for you :)

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

widukind wrote:

Thank you, you have a phantastic knowledge. Exists Yujin animal figures since 1988? That was what i mean with my question for old figures?

And when started Kaiyodo?

And do you know more brands?

1. The first animal figures was chocoegg, Kaiyodo and Futura collaborated in 1999, Yujin started making animal figures in 2002.
2. Miyawaki started Kaiyodo in 1964, now Miyawaki Shuichi is CEO, Kaiyodo is a family business.
3. The list in forum is more comprehensive, other brands like KORO KORO, Qualia, Kenelephant，they also making some animal figures. There are some chinese brands making some animal figures too, if you are interested, I will update some information about them.

And yes yes yes, i am very interested in all the other brand, chinese brands too. And where to find than is also very very interesting.

Thankyou very much for your great help

That is all very interesting! Again, I am very happy that you are with us sharing all these informations.
I also am interested about Chinese brands, you may be able of helping us to solve some misteries.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Very interesting information. Because most of us don't read Japanese or Chinese, this kind of information is very difficult for us to get.

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

1988, Yujin founded.
2006, Furuya Daiki brought Junya Sato, KOW and a group of people to start a new company - Kitan Club. And established the Nature Techni Colour brand, referred to as NTC.
2008, Yujin was acquired by Takara Tomy.
2014, Junya Sato brought  KOW and a group of people to start a new company - IKIMON. Nature Techni Colour brand was also brought.

I hope you don't mind me asking some more questions. What is KOW? Who is Junya Sato, did he already have a company before Kitan? Are Yujin and Ikimon-NTC unrelated, or do you mean they are also related? Thank you!

I'd be very interested in learning about other brands too. I have never heard of Kenelephant, for example. Chinese brands would be interesting too, especially if you know how we can buy their models outside China.

1. KOW is a animal model designer, he is very low key, so we don't know his real name. But he is very awesome, he designed a most of Yujin Colour series & NTC figures.
2. Junya Sato, sorry, his name is Junya Satou, google translate is wrong. He is a representative director in IKIMON. He is responsible for turning prototypes into products. He have not a company before Kitan.
3. Junya Satou and KOW was university classmate.
4. At first Yujin just a small company with only 25 people, Furuya Daiki, Junya Satou and KOW worked in Yujin, they were responsible for making biological models, they maked Yujin Colour series. Later, with the development of time, Yujin became a company with more than 100 people. Some of their ideas are difficult to realize. So Furuya Daiki, Junya Satou, KOW and a group of people to start a new company Kitan Club. Later, probably for the same reason, Junya Satou, KOW and a group of people to start a new company IKIMON.
5. In fact, biological models are just a small part of the Yujin, Kitan Club, IKIMON company ’s products, because pure biological models are not profitable in Japan.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Very interesting information. Because most of us don't read Japanese or Chinese, this kind of information is very difficult for us to get.

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

1988, Yujin founded.
2006, Furuya Daiki brought Junya Sato, KOW and a group of people to start a new company - Kitan Club. And established the Nature Techni Colour brand, referred to as NTC.
2008, Yujin was acquired by Takara Tomy.
2014, Junya Sato brought  KOW and a group of people to start a new company - IKIMON. Nature Techni Colour brand was also brought.

I hope you don't mind me asking some more questions. What is KOW? Who is Junya Sato, did he already have a company before Kitan? Are Yujin and Ikimon-NTC unrelated, or do you mean they are also related? Thank you!

I'd be very interested in learning about other brands too. I have never heard of Kenelephant, for example. Chinese brands would be interesting too, especially if you know how we can buy their models outside China.

Q: How can buy their models outside China or Japan？
A: Ebay is the easiest way, The benefits are English and global express, but things are few and expensive.
Finding someone to buying on behalf is also a good way.
If you want to find some japanese models in Yahoo auction JP, you need some key words.
website: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
key words:
Kaiyodo = 海洋堂
Kitan = 奇譚クラブ or キタンクラブ
Nature Techni Colour = ネイチャーテクニカラー

Roger wrote:

That is all very interesting! Again, I am very happy that you are with us sharing all these informations.
I also am interested about Chinese brands, you may be able of helping us to solve some misteries.

I will post other Jpanese and Chinese brands in the weekend slowly.

Thanks you very much for all this information, you know a lot about it! Thanks for the keywords too. I use Yahoo auctions quite often; it's very useful to know the Japanese words for the different brands.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Thanks you very much for all this information, you know a lot about it! Thanks for the keywords too. I use Yahoo auctions quite often; it's very useful to know the Japanese words for the different brands.

It's my pleasure.

If you want find something about Japanese figures, I think I can help.

widukind wrote:

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

widukind wrote:

And is it possible that Kitan have a set of snakes?

I don't know.
If you like snakes figures, I recommend a set of Poison Fang Assassin Poison Snake, it's from Takara Tomy.
NTC-NOJ2 have a snake, Kaiyodo chocoQ have some snakes.

Thank you :) that snake set i have. I have seen on FB snakes that i dont know. I will send you a picture if it i okay for you :)

Please show me the picture about FB snakes.

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

widukind wrote:

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

widukind wrote:

And is it possible that Kitan have a set of snakes?

I don't know.
If you like snakes figures, I recommend a set of Poison Fang Assassin Poison Snake, it's from Takara Tomy.
NTC-NOJ2 have a snake, Kaiyodo chocoQ have some snakes.

Thank you :) that snake set i have. I have seen on FB snakes that i dont know. I will send you a picture if it i okay for you :)

Please show me the picture about FB snakes.

I will send you soon a pm. And i have also a big lot of questions. :)

tjjtjjtjja wrote:

If you want find something about Japanese figures, I think I can help.

Thank you, that's very kind.

Using your information, I have changed the companies' information on TAW (first few sentences on the page):
Kaiyodo: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Kitan: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Please have a look and see whether this is correct. If you have more information, please let me know.

Do you know whether Kitan Club still exists or has it disappeared after Ikimon started?

I have used the name Sato instead of Satou, because Sato is a common Japanese surname.

Thanks for your help!

rogerpgvg wrote:

Using your information, I have changed the companies' information on TAW (first few sentences on the page):
Kaiyodo: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Kitan: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Please have a look and see whether this is correct. If you have more information, please let me know.

Do you know whether Kitan Club still exists or has it disappeared after Ikimon started?

I have used the name Sato instead of Satou, because Sato is a common Japanese surname.

Thanks for your help!

Thank you. You are an enthusiastic person.

Kitan Club is still exists now.

I will translate more information from Wiki Japan tonight.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Using your information, I have changed the companies' information on TAW (first few sentences on the page):
Kaiyodo: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Kitan: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Please have a look and see whether this is correct. If you have more information, please let me know.

Do you know whether Kitan Club still exists or has it disappeared after Ikimon started?

I have used the name Sato instead of Satou, because Sato is a common Japanese surname.

Thanks for your help!

Kaiyodo in Wiki
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Kitan Club
About NTC products, please use the following statement
Nature Techni Colour - Base series
General Set:
1. Ocean I, all 8 types, 2008.6
2. Frogs of Japan, all 8 types, 2009.2
3. Savanna, all 10 types, 2009.7
4. Turtles of Japan, all 10 types, 2010.5
5. Freshwater fish of Japan, all 10 types, 2011.8
6. Ogasawara Islands, all 8 types, 2013.6
7. Antarctic, all 8 types, 2014.8
8. Freshwater fish of Japan special edition, all 5 types, 2016.1
9. Savanna special edition，all 5 types, 2019.3

Limited Set:
1. Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN, all 12 types (the first version without base, all 8 types), 2009.9 (first version,2008)
2. Toba Aquarium, all 8 types (6 types resale), 2012.4 (resale,2014.7)
3. Sea turtles of Japan, all 4 types, 2010.11
4. Sea turtles of Yakushima, all 2 types, 2009.8
5. Golden Ocean(Tenth Anniversary Limited), all 8 types, 2015.12
6. Gold Africa(Tenth Anniversary Limited), all 8 types, 2015.12

Super Limited:
1. King Squid, 120 limited
2. Pink Elephant, 2014 wf summer limited

In addition to NTC (NATURE TECHNI COLOUR), STC (SCIENCE TECHNI COLOUR), Ikimon has a series of ATC (ARTUNIV TECHNI COLOUR).

Thank you, tjjtjjtjja. This is a bit more work, so it will take me a bit longer. I have a few questions.

Is the Antarctica set you mention the same as the set listed as Nankyoku on TAW?
Do you know when the King squid was released?
Next to Pink elephant, you say "wf". What does "wf" mean?
Does ATC have any animal figures?

Thanks again!

rogerpgvg wrote:

Thank you, tjjtjjtjja. This is a bit more work, so it will take me a bit longer. I have a few questions.

Is the Antarctica set you mention the same as the set listed as Nankyoku on TAW?
Do you know when the King squid was released?
Next to Pink elephant, you say "wf". What does "wf" mean?
Does ATC have any animal figures?

Thanks again!

1. Yes, you are right. I check the leaflet, official name is Nankyoku. I will edit my post.

2. 2013.4.30~2014.4.30, It's special prize. Collecting and sending the application tickets contained in the capsule. It's 10 prizes every month in one year,
only 120 people received a figure.

3. WF is WonderFestival, it is a semiannual (February and August) event held in Japan and China. It is sponsored by the Kaiyodo manufacturing company. The main focus is to display and sell "garage kits", which are sculptures that usually represent anime and game characters, but also popular mecha/sci-fi characters and creatures such as Kuratas. These models are extremely detail oriented, and many of these sculptures appear in very small quantities due to the amateur nature of their reproduction. Unusually skilled artisans are promoted specifically during the "wonder showcase" (WSC), in which their works are given special attention and limited quantities of their masterpieces are sold for high prices to avid collectors. It also showcases future releases by major toy companies.

4. ATC have not any animal figures. Sorry, I forgot TMA is an animal toys Wiki.

Thank you, I realize my mistake.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Thank you, tjjtjjtjja. This is a bit more work, so it will take me a bit longer. I have a few questions.

Is the Antarctica set you mention the same as the set listed as Nankyoku on TAW?
Do you know when the King squid was released?
Next to Pink elephant, you say "wf". What does "wf" mean?
Does ATC have any animal figures?

Thanks again!

I check the leaflet. It is right now.
General Set:
1. The Ocean I, all 8 types, 2008.6
2. The Frogs In Japan, all 8 types, 2009.2
3. Savanna, all 10 types, 2009.7
4. The Turtles In Japan, all 10 types, 2010.5
5. Clear Rivers In Japan, all 10 types, 2011.8
6. Ogasawara, all 8 types, 2013.6
7. Nankyoku, all 8 types, 2014.8
8. Clear Streams In Japan, all 5 types, 2016.1

Limited Set:
1. Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN, all 12 types (the first version without base, all 8 types), 2009.9 (first version,2008)
2. Toba Aquarium, all 8 types (6 types resale), 2012.4 (resale,2014.7)
3. The Sea Turtles In Japan, all 4 types, 2010.11
4. The Sea Turtles In Yakushima, all 2 types, 2009.8
5. The Ocean Type Glod (Tenth Anniversary Limited), all 8 types, 2015.12
6. Savanna Type Glod (Tenth Anniversary Limited), all 8 types, 2015.12
7. Savanna special edition，all 5 types, 2019.3

Super Limited:
1. King Squid, 120 limited
2. Pink Elephant, wf2014 summer limited

Nature of Japan series 1~3 is here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]