I have collected 22,000 items! The depth of collecting fancy picture souvenirs.

Collections are interesting. It is fun to look at a substantial collection that has been assembled according to a specific theme, but it is even more interesting to hear about people who are crazy about collecting. In this series, I will visit various collectors and collect episodes related to their collections. Why do we collect things?　What lies beyond what we collect?　Friday’s Collecting Original” is a collection file that collects collectors.

A large number of souvenirs with fancy characters were produced in the 1980s and 1990s. Melo Yamashita, who appears in this issue of the book, has named them “Fancy Picture Souvenirs” and has been traveling around Japan to collect and protect them. She herself wears a Heisei retro fashion style, and is now in demand on TV, radio, and talk events. We visited Mr. Mello’s home to see his more than 20,000 pieces of fancy picture souvenirs.

Definition of fancy picture souvenirs

─ First of all, could you give us a definition of “fancy picture souvenirs”?

Melo: There is no clear definition, but the first characteristic is that it is “practical”. In the past, souvenirs, such as folk art kokeshi dolls, had an origin and purpose, but they were basically just for decoration. Fancy picture souvenirs, on the other hand, are all practical items. A key ring is for holding keys, a curtain is for separating entrances, and a teacup is for writing. The rest are things like teacups and stationery.

I see. I had the image that fancy souvenirs were things I didn’t need. I was under the impression that fancy souvenirs were things that people didn’t need, but they are all practical things, aren’t they?

Melo: Because of the embarrassing drawings on the items, people say, “I don’t want it” or “I can’t use it. However, our goal is to make practical products. That’s why there are very few fancy souvenirs that are just for decoration.

T.K.: I see. So you’re saying that the first thing you want to do is to make something that has the picture printed on it.

Melo: Secondly, there is the characteristic of the picture: two heads and eyes. This is, well, there are various cases, but to sum it up, it is something that has a manga touch to it. Animals are anthropomorphized, and historical figures are depicted with two heads. Animals are anthropomorphized and historical figures are represented with two heads.

In the world of fancy-art souvenirs, there is no such thing as an anthropomorphic figure.

Melo: The last one is “Romaji Japanese”. There are many cases where messages in Japanese are written in romaji. In this case, the message is the name of a place or a small tweet.

It’s like “A-I-SHI-TE-RU♡”.

Mero: That’s what I mean. These are the three definitions of fancy pictorial souvenirs, but I consider the “presence of characters” to be the most important one. A tourist attraction is also a scenic spot, so if you just draw the scenery, it should be a viable souvenir.

The same is true for tourist pennants. It’s enough just to have the scenery and the name of the place on it.

Fuji, but it says “Mt. Fuji” and has animal characters on it. Fuji”, while animal characters are drawn. This is a feature that sells well even without the Mt. Fuji. Of course, there are many souvenirs that include scenery, but it is rare to see a fancy picture souvenir with only scenery. I think it’s because landscapes are difficult to deform.

I think it’s because landscapes are hard to deform.　For example, Mount Fuji has arms and legs.

Mello: Yes, there are. A great example is a souvenir from Atami where there is a moon above Kan’ichi and Omiya in reference to the line, “This month, tonight, this moon.

Mello: However, this kind of thing is very rare. To put it another way, I don’t know if I should be making this story so exciting (laughs), but there are very few vegetables and fruits.

So that’s how it is. I think it’s possible to have anthropomorphic bananas, though.

Mello: In Yamagata, there are cherries with faces, and in Aomori, there are apples with faces, so it’s not zero, but it’s extremely rare. Perhaps it has to do with the age of the target audience for fancy picture souvenirs, and their empathy for emotional involvement. If a natural monument of a tree is a famous landmark, instead of anthropomorphizing the tree, we would have a couple standing in front of the tree.

─ In the local kitty, Kitty-chan is forced to wear a specialty item, right?

Melo: In the case of the fancy picture souvenirs, as I said before, you can draw an unrelated person standing in front of the tree, or a woman harvesting.

Oh, like a woman picking tea!

Melo: That’s what I meant. I would draw a female character in a traditional Kasuri kimono and say, “I’m harvesting. For the fancy picture souvenirs, the main focus is on people and anthropomorphic animals.

My sister’s influence on my love of fancy

─ I’ve heard that you currently have a collection of 20,000 fancy pictures and souvenirs, but from the look of this room, it looks like you have more than that.

Mero: That’s right. The collection continues to grow every day, so I think there are now 21,000 or 22,000 items.

Did you like cute things in the first place?

Melo: I don’t remember, but I have a picture of myself playing with dolls when I was a little girl. 7 years older than me, I had an older sister who gave me dolls to play with. She was a Sanrio fan, so we had a lot of Sanrio goods in the house. After that, I thought I was living like a boy, but …… it’s hard to explain. This is a bit of a digression, but the original target of the fancy picture souvenirs was men.

What?　That’s surprising. I thought that girls were the main target.

Melo: I once talked to a person who produces fancy picture souvenirs, and he told me that they were rejected when they tried to make a Sanrio-like design, and that they didn’t get many feminine bookmarks. The important thing about fancy picture souvenirs is that there are not many that have a touch of shoujo manga. The important thing about fancy picture souvenirs is that they don’t have a shoujo manga touch, but rather something more like shounen manga or children’s manga.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not a fan of the manga, or because I’m not a fan of the manga.

Melo: Girls are smart, so they don’t buy these things (laughs). (laughs) They are smart enough to know that even if they buy something and go home, they won’t need it right away. Instead, they would rather pay for something like having a cup of delicious tea made for them. I don’t think girls have the culture of buying useless things, as symbolized by wooden swords at tourist spots.

This is also true for the fact that there are not many women collectors.

Melo: Boys tend to be collectors, so many things with the same specifications are made. It’s the same with pennants. In fact, it’s the boys who buy the extra stuff at souvenir stores. That’s why many of the fancy picture souvenirs are made for boys. I wasn’t particularly fond of cute things, but I loved Bikkuriman and NES when I was in kindergarten. And what these two things symbolize is “Square”.

So you’re saying Square …… is a square?

Melo: Yes. This is my own theory, or rather my own guess, but when I tried to draw a large figure on a square Bicliman sticker, the most convenient way was to make it a two-headed figure. Even in NES software, when drawing characters within a limited size, it’s convenient to draw two heads.

I know what you mean!　In “Final Fantasy,” Yoshitaka Amano’s fantastic characters are squeezed into a small square, so they end up looking kind of cute.

Mello: So, in terms of deformed culture, we have Bicliman, NES, and then SD Gundam Gashapon Warrior, BB Warrior, and Card Das. That’s about it. In the 80’s, Sanrio created lines for boys, such as Minna no Taabo (1984), Hankyodon (1985), and Kerokeroppi (1988). The characters were made in blue and green colors, so that boys could buy them too.

So, cute things are not necessarily only for girls.

Mello: I was really into deformed culture, so I used to buy such things. It wasn’t just me, but boys were buying fancy picture souvenirs without any resistance. In the early 90’s, Godzilla became two-headed, and Kamen Rider and Ultraman also became two-headed officially.

In the early 90s, Godzilla became two-headed, and Kamen Rider and Ultraman also became two-headed officially. …… I was in my first year of high school, so I think it was around 1977, when the egg airplane (a plastic model of a fighter plane deformed to look like a chicken egg) appeared.

Melo: That was a very early case of deformed culture. I think it was even before Choro-Q.

Like Gundam, I remember being surprised by the idea of making weapons cute, like the egg airplane.

Melo: The idea of deforming weapons continued into the era of fancy picture souvenirs, and I was surprised to find a souvenir of a Zero fighter with rhinestones and other cute touches at the Kamikaze Kannon in Chiran. I was so surprised (laughs).

(laughs) ─ Oh, by the way, I just learned about “deco guns” from Melo the other day. I was surprised to learn that there is a culture where people decorate their beloved guns in cute ways.

Mero: Fancy picture souvenirs are not made by a large company and sold nationwide. That’s the interesting thing about fancy picture souvenirs in particular. If it were Sanrio, it would never happen, right?　You can’t miss it.

The moment I realized the concept of fancy picture souvenirs

Fancy picture souvenirs didn’t just appear out of nowhere, they had always been there. No one noticed it.

Melo: Yes, they were originally a very major thing.

Is there an event that triggered your awareness of it?

Melo: The first time we met was at a flea market. I had gotten rid of things that were around me when I was a kid as I was growing up, and then I started collecting Sanrio goods and talent goods. To put it bluntly, I liked techno, and from YMO I came to like the idols whose members provided the music, and from there I came to like Onyanko Club, and around that time, when I saw pictures of the rooms of 80’s idols and such, I felt nostalgic.

It’s like my sister’s room that I used to look at when I was a kid.

Melo: I was interested in that kind of thing, so at first I was interested in the Sailors and Sanrio, and I also bought some goods from the talent store. At that time (around 2000), the 80’s was being made fun of like crazy. People would say things like, “Don’t call the 80s Showa retro,” or “That frivolous stuff has nothing to do with the profound culture of the Showa era.

It’s a culture that some people want to get rid of.

Melo: Music and design are frivolous. I couldn’t tolerate that. I was still a child in the 80’s, so I didn’t go through it as my youth, so I admired it as something that belonged to my older brothers and sisters, but I didn’t enjoy it. That’s why I was so obsessed with the 80’s. I wanted to relive it as an adult, so I bought 80’s goods. While being ridiculed (laughs).

(laughs) – Well, people would laugh at me.

Melo: I’ve been doing this for a few years, and I think it was around 2010 when I found a fancy picture souvenir at a flea market.

That’s it, that’s it!

I don’t know if I hadn’t seen it or if it wasn’t for sale, but I happened to pick up a Kyoto key chain and thought, “Huh?　I thought, “Huh? This feels ……”. I happened to pick up a Kyoto key chain and thought, “Huh?

It was only 10 yen. – Well, a Kyoto souvenir key chain would cost that much at a flea market.

Melo At that time, there was a momentum that the “80s” that I had been following for a long time was finally going to have a revival. It had been about 10 years since 2000, when people were still making fun of the 80s, and then Kyary Pamyu Pamyu made her debut, and Harajuku kawaii culture was getting a lot of attention, and the collaboration between “Creamy Mami the Magic Angel” and an apparel brand became a hot topic.　I felt like, “The 80s are hot!

I felt like, “The ’80s are hot! That’s a strange expression (laughs).

(laughs) But from a personal point of view, I felt like they were only trying to expose the top of the fashionable elements of the 80s. It’s not like this, it’s more frivolous, tacky, and awful, and that atmosphere is great, but you don’t understand. It would be different if I only used the part of “Creamy Mami” that was dressed up after her transformation!　So I had this feeling.

I know what you mean. I sometimes feel the same way about the Showa era song boom. I feel the same way about the Showa song boom. It’s like, “Rare groove,” and they’re only taking the best parts of Japanese songs, but there’s something much more degrading underneath.

(laughs) Melo: I was kind of frustrated with that, and then I found that (flea market key chain). The color of the ink was still very much like it was back then, and I felt that it was more than just Sanrio. With all the reprints of Sanrio from the 80’s, I thought that although this was not sophisticated, it would be appropriate for the current trend. I had been chasing after something similar, but I didn’t see it. I didn’t catch it until this moment. But now I’ve realized it.

This is the moment when you discovered the concept of fancy picture souvenirs, isn’t it? I like that. The main motivation for me to do this series is to dig up stories like this.

Melo: At the time, I wasn’t a celebrity, nor was I known as a collector. I didn’t have that much power of communication.　If I introduced this on Twitter or something, no one would know about it.

Mero: At the time, you were just Yamashita-san, right?

Melo: So I thought, “This is it! I thought, “This is it!” but I didn’t know what to do from there. Then I thought about it calmly and realized that since so much of it had been sold and bought at souvenir stores, there might be people who were aware of this field. So I thought that if it was on the Internet, there would be people talking about it, but when I tried to search for it, I wondered what “this” was. What is it?　What’s the name of this?　What’s the name of this?

When I discovered a new genre, I had a name problem.

Melo: I wonder what they called this kind of thing back then?　I mean, I didn’t even call it by its name, and I didn’t even need to. I was just buying a souvenir.

I don’t even think I had to call them by their names.

Melo: People often talk about pennants in nostalgic stories, but they don’t talk about this one because it doesn’t have a name. At that time, I searched around using various words like “cute/souvenir”, “cute/key chain”, “Sanrio-like”, etc., but there was almost no mention of it. Is there such a thing?　I thought. I guess it’s hard for people to talk about it because it doesn’t have a name, but I’ve been following the 80’s for so long, and I’ve read a lot of reference books like “1980 Encyclopedia” by Takarajima-sha, but I’ve never found anything about it.

But I’ve never come across it. Not through ignoring, but through not being able to see.

Melo: So, I was going around the flea market with an eye on the 80’s, and the fact that I hadn’t seen anything about it made me think that it must have been even more lost in the memories of the people of the world, and I got really scared (laughs). (laughs) How is that possible?　(laughs). It’s amazing that there are hundreds of thousands of different products in a single field.

It’s a huge culture, isn’t it?

Melo: I don’t know how many there are because I didn’t have a bird’s eye view at the time I noticed it. I don’t know how many there are.　How can something that is only 20-30 years old disappear so easily?　I was terrified to think that something that was sold in such a large quantity in such a short period of time could disappear so easily, and I thought I had to do something about it.

I had to do something about it. I felt a mysterious sense of mission.

Identity is in the picture

How did you come up with the term “fancy picture souvenirs”?

Melo: First of all, “fancy” is a word known from fancy stores. However, the meaning of the word “fancy” is becoming more and more ambiguous, and it’s not clear what “fancy” is.　What is fancy? It’s not necessarily the case with light-colored (pastel-colored) products like Kiki and Lala. In the past, Sanrio products were not all light-colored. They also used red, blue, and other vivid primary colors.

This is also the case with Dick Bruna’s Miffy, isn’t it?

Mero: Such things were sold in fancy stores, but the English word “fancy” does not have the same nuance as the Japanese word “fancy. Originally, it meant “fantastic” or “fanciful”, or “decorative” or “luxurious”. The word “fancy” in “sea chicken fancy” means something like that.

In other words, “fancy” as it is commonly used in Japan is Japanese English.

Melo: So, the first definition of “practical” is exactly what I meant by fancy stores. You can print character illustrations on practical stationery and other small items, and make various products from a single picture. That’s why souvenir stores that sold fancy pictures were like fancy stores in tourist spots.

Fancy is invading all over Japan.

Mero: In such places, the term “fancy souvenirs” was common. It’s influenced by the fancy stores in town, so it’s definitely a fancy souvenir. But when I searched for “fancy souvenirs,” I found that everything was called that. There are country-style paper mache dolls, lavender dolls, and so on.

There is a field called “country.

Melo: These are also called fancy, and it is difficult to say what is fancy. So, this is a selfish consideration on my part, but I was afraid of taking away an existing category, and I really could have left it as “fancy souvenirs”. But for the people who use the term “fancy souvenirs,” it would have been an abrupt change in definition, and for us, it would have been impossible to search on Yahoo!

For those who are looking for something, the noise increases.

Melo: On the other hand, I don’t want to make the name too long. Even “Fancy Souvenirs” is long enough. But I don’t want to rephrase it in a strange way. As I observed the items I had collected, I noticed that there were not many three-dimensional items. Like Sanrio, the basic idea is to print the illustration on the flat surface of the item, and the rare three-dimensional items are basically flat pictures, except for the ones that I accidentally made three-dimensional later. These have an identity in painting. Then, if you add “picture,” it’s just one character, and if you use Chinese characters, you can convey the meaning.

It’s an ideograph.

Melo: That’s why we call it “fancy picture souvenir. If it’s “e-miyage,” it’s not a pun on “omiyage,” but it’s also a good word. It’s not a pun on the word “omiyage,” but it’s a nice pun on the word “fancy.

When you press the conversion key, “souvenir” tends to become “souvenir. I think it’s great that the word “fancy picture souvenir” is written in hiragana. I also like the balance of the katakana/kanji/hiragana order.

Melo: That’s also true. There is a problem with the word “souvenir” itself, and when searching for products on the Internet, there are some services that give different search results for “souvenir,” “souvenir,” “omiyage,” and “souvenirs. Of course, the seller doesn’t take this into consideration, but this is why I’ve been suffering from the shaky notation of the “souvenir” part.

Hahaha!　I don’t think there are many people who have suffered from such a problem.

Melo: I decided to make it clearer, so I used hiragana. I asked various media to change it to hiragana.

Oh, I see. Even if I was interviewed for a story, when the article was written, it would be called “fancy picture souvenir.

Melo: Even on TV, I have to say something like, “Sorry, please use ‘Picture Souvenir. I’ve suffered from this kind of misspelling in the past, so I’m hoping that it will be fixed as much as possible. I think today might be the first time I’ve talked about this (laughs).

(laughs) ─ I think everyone who is involved in publishing agrees with me. Uniformity in notation is important.

Thank you, Mr. Edison!

─ Can you tell us about your fancy picture souvenir conservation activities? How do you actually collect them?

Melo: I first became aware of the existence of fancy pictures and souvenirs at flea markets, so at first I went to flea markets and bazaars. But I didn’t find that many. In the beginning, I went around flea markets and bazaars.

When you say that key chains are heavy, it’s very convincing when you say it in front of this “wall” at Melo’s house.

Melo: Even so, I still came across them once in a while, so I kept buying them little by little. After that, I actually started going to souvenir stores in tourist spots to look for them, but they didn’t sell too many.

But they were too hard to find, and nowadays, that kind of thing is no longer popular.

Melo: And the stores are closing too fast. During the bubble economy, the economy was so good that people gave their sons and daughters the chance to take over the souvenir stores, but after the collapse of the bubble economy, the souvenir stores became more and more difficult and people decided not to give them the chance. The people who were the store owners at that time are now in their 80s. When these people get sick or injured, they quit the store.

It’s not a business that can be passed on to the next generation, is it?

Melo: This is not good. The stores are disappearing so fast that we can’t keep up with them if we only do conservation work on weekends. If we don’t put our energy into it now, we’ll lose the real thing!　I felt a sense of crisis, so I quit my job.

That’s why I quit my job. That’s an amazing thing to say!

Melo: It’s not enough to work at a company and only go out for conservation activities on weekends. It is not enough to go out for conservation activities only on weekends while working at a company, because sometimes stores are closed on the day you go. I have to stay in the place where the souvenir store is located for a week or so, so that I can come back the next day or the day after that even if the store is closed.

─ That’s a great decision.

Melo: Well, I’m done with this. I have no choice but to do it myself.

Have you visited almost all of Japan?

Mero: Yes, I went to almost all of Japan, but I didn’t just go around the country. The second or third visit is surprisingly important. You said you didn’t have it!　(laughs). (laughs) “No, I remembered it was in the back after you left. In other words, once you stimulate them, their antennas start to go up.

─ I see, so by interacting with you, Melo, the other person will have a “perspective” on the fancy picture souvenirs.

Melo: There are many cases where people come out of the woodwork on the second visit, so I have to travel around Japan twice at least.

─ Recently, an article by Melo was posted on the Mercari website, and there was a great line in it. There was a great line in the article: “If you can protect the culture, it’s no big deal to quit the company” (laughs).

Melo: Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I have always wanted to be an innovator like an inventor or an entrepreneur. I like Edison. He created something of value on his own and then spread it around. He was also a great salesman. I heard that when he invented the light bulb, he paraded around town with a cart or something with the bulb attached to it to promote it. In other words, he not only invented the light bulb, but also had the power to spread it throughout the world. Edison is amazing, his name remains in history, and it’s so convenient now, thank you Edison!　Thank you Edison! It’s bright.

Melo: Edison is a human being.

Melo: Edison is a human being, so I feel that I can do the same. His upbringing was different, but he was still a human being, so it was not impossible. So, when I found the fancy picture souvenir, I felt that it was an opportunity, although I was not so sure at the time. I thought it would be a chance for me to try something that would be useful to people, something that would allow them to reconnect with their nostalgic memories. It has a high level of documentation in terms of folklore, and by preserving it, I can convey the atmosphere of the bubble era, so it has some significance. I thought it would be more worthwhile to take on this challenge than to continue my life as a company employee.

─ Oh, ……. I am shaken by your seriousness, Melo.

Mero: So, from my point of view, even if there were hundreds of thousands of fancy picture souvenirs, and even if there were tens of millions of souvenir shops all over the country, the cost would not be trillions of yen. At the moment, I think we are spending about 10 million yen, but I don’t think it will go up to hundreds of millions in the end.

It’s different from collecting art or antiques, isn’t it?

Mello: For example, many research projects require a budget from the government, a certain amount of money, and hundreds of people to conduct, but the conservation of fancy pictures and souvenirs can be done by one person. If you think about it, you should give this a try.

You don’t get that chance very often in life, do you?

Melo: So, even if there is no prospect of making a profit, it is okay to give it a try. Even if it doesn’t lead to income, when I thought about the value of being able to protect the culture, I thought I could do anything, even manual labor.

─ When I first met you, I was surprised by your style of functioning. What surprised me when I first met you was your fashion style. I think it goes along with what you said earlier about Edison walking around advertising himself. That was your intention, wasn’t it?

Melo Yes, it’s a 50/50 thing.

─ The reason why Mr. Melo is now in the spotlight of various media is, of course, because of his amazing collection, but I think it is because he is a picture in itself. Both in a good way and a bad way (laughs).

Melo: I’m very grateful.

Melo: You didn’t plan for that to happen?

Mero: I wasn’t aiming for that, but I thought it would be different to wear a suit and talk about something serious just because it has academic value. I thought it was important for the general public to jump in and say, “Wow, this brings back memories! It’s important that the general public jumps in and says, “Wow! I want the entrance to be as pop as possible.

The triple burden of fancy picture souvenirs

─ Naturally, you need to have a lot of knowledge to analyze the goods you collect. I think it’s amazing how much you’ve accumulated. You seem to have a scholarly mind.

Melo: I’ve always liked to acquire knowledge like that. That’s why when I read a novel, I write down all the words I don’t understand. When I was young, I read Soseki Natsume and Yukio Mishima, but I really couldn’t go on. When I was young, I read Soseki Natsume and Yukio Mishima, but I really couldn’t get anywhere. I would get stuck thinking, “I don’t know this word,” and write it all down. I can understand the meaning of a word from its context, but I can’t stop myself from wanting to know what it means in the dictionary.

I want to know the exact meaning.

Melo: I want to know not only the meaning, but also examples of usage. With online dictionaries, I can find synonyms, so I have to look at them all the time, so I can’t go through the pages at all. This is a common phenomenon of surfing the Internet, but sometimes you end up branching out and looking up different things.

It’s like when you look at Wikipedia. You end up going farther and farther away by following the related items.

Melo: This is just me being consumed by my own desire for knowledge, but I never really liked geography or history that much. I don’t intend to follow it to anything beyond the school level. It’s just words. However, when I started collecting fancy picture souvenirs, I couldn’t help myself if I didn’t know the geography of Japan. Why this landscape? or “Why is this warlord here and dressed like this? If you don’t know the geography and history, you can’t understand it.

If you don’t know the geography and history, you won’t be able to understand the meaning of the fancy picture souvenirs.

Melo: I actually visited the area because I had to, and as a result, I became more familiar with the geography.

There are a lot of people who say they learned geography from “Momotetsu,” but I think there will be people who say they learned geography from fancy picture souvenirs (laughs).

Melo: But the barrier to entry is very high. It’s okay if you buy one or two cute ones on Mercari or at a flea market, but it’s impossible for ordinary people to collect all of them. In fact, when I go around the area for conservation activities, I get covered in dust and it’s like I have to come out from behind a cardboard box that I dragged out from underneath, or I have to keep up with the chit-chat of the grandparents at the store, make friends with them, and finally get them to let me out from behind. This is one of the reasons why there are no rivals.

It takes a lot of money, but it also takes a lot of time and effort.

Melo: I really want people to enjoy these things more casually. I hope that the term “fancy picture souvenir” will spread, and everyone will be able to buy them on Yahoo Japan or Mercari. It’s frustrating, but the ones that are sold locally are leftovers, and they haven’t been bought in 30 years, so they’re not good.

It’s not good.

Melo: The ones that are still unsold are not well designed, rusty or in poor condition, and yet they are expensive. I call this the “triple pain of fancy picture souvenirs.

This is what I call the triple whammy of fancy picture souvenirs. It’s not good, it’s rusty, and it’s still a fixed price.

Melo That’s what I’m buying. Sometimes you have to spend tens of thousands of yen on transportation to finally buy one, and sometimes you have to spend tens of thousands of yen and get no harvest. So it’s a lot of work, but I think that if my activities make it possible for people to buy things on Mercalli without having to work so hard, the barrier to entry will go down. I hope there will be many more cute ones.

─ Well, that’s a great story. When I interview collectors, I always ask them, “Have you had a habit of collecting since you were a child? When I interview collectors, I always ask them if they have had a habit of collecting since childhood, but this is a different kind of activity.

Melo: But one thing that hasn’t changed is that I collect things that are different from others. When I was in kindergarten, I used to pick up screws and stuff on my way to and from school and put them in a flower pot I had on my front porch. It didn’t mean anything, though. When Bikkuriman stickers were popular, everyone around me wanted to get the head (*winning glitter sticker), but I didn’t want that, I wanted to collect lots of demons.

I would try to collect lots of demons.

Melo: That’s why I trade one head for 30 demons, and collect only demons that people don’t care about. I used to do the same thing with Card Dass. When everyone else was collecting Musha Gundam, I would try to complete the first round, which was already old.

Is there a reason for this?

Melo: This is a long story, but I think it’s because I was born early. Let me tell you roughly. My birthday is March 29th, and people who are born early are unreasonably defeated in many aspects from childhood.

─ I see, even in the same school year, there is a difference of about one year in physique and ability from a child born on April 2nd.

Melo: The difference of one year in childhood is huge. Overseas, most professional soccer players are born in April. According to Japanese statistics, the number of baseball players born in April is decreasing in order. In other words, those who are born late and have been winning with confidence become professional athletes. As an early-born, I had already been unreasonably defeated since I was in kindergarten, and I spent my time in classes not knowing what I was doing, and I hated competition.

I was born in August, so I’m not an early bird, but I had a rather losing childhood, so I don’t like competition either (laughs).

(laughs) As a result, I’ve always wanted to do something that no one else is doing. I wouldn’t have bothered with the fancy picture souvenirs if there were rivals. I wouldn’t have bothered with the fancy picture souvenirs if I had a competitor. It doesn’t make any sense. That’s why it’s called the blue ocean strategy.

Swimming in an untouched ocean.

Melo: You have to gather people in areas where there are none, or where no one is gathering people. I think it’s because I was born early, and I think it’s important to engage in activities that don’t compete with others.

Map of Japan drawn with CD protection mat

In addition to the fancy picture souvenirs, you also collect a variety of retro Heisei items, don’t you? One of the items I’m interested in is the CD case protection mat. Can you show me what it is?

Melo: It’s in this box: …….

Wow, there are so many of them!　I had said on Twitter that it would be hard to collect them, so I thought four or five CDs would be enough for a picture, but there are so many in the box!

Melo: I’d have to go to a Hard Off or something and open the plastic cases of used CDs one by one to see if they were there.

In short, it’s a mat that protects the CD from being scratched when it’s placed in the plastic case. It was also sold commercially, but record stores would sometimes make one with the store name on it as a service to their customers.

Mero: This is partly to protect the Heisei retro style, but it’s also important for the local community. Nowadays, record stores and CD stores are disappearing, but the memory of them remains in the form. For example, this is a CD store with the logo “YOU” on it, but it also has a phone number on it, so you can sort of find out where it is. These small, privately owned CD stores are disappearing rapidly, aren’t they?

Only a few second-hand stores and major chains are left that sell physical media.

Melo: I was in elementary school and junior high school during the era of million-selling singles, so when a hot song was released, everyone went to the store. These protective mats remind me of those days. Even though the store is no longer there, the logo on the mat reminds me of those days. I don’t live there, so I think, “What’s a Tammie? but the locals would be like, “Aha! I don’t live there.

I bought a TM NETWORK CD there,” or something like that.

Melo: The bags that hold the records (shoppers) tend to be thrown away, but the protective mats are found in used CDs, so they are still around. However, most of the stores made their own bags, but many of them did not make mats.

─ So it is not possible to cover all the stores.

Melo: Yes, but I would like to try to draw a map of Japan with this, because I am sure that there are many stores all over the country.

I’d love to draw a map of Japan with it.

Melo Even if I don’t feel nostalgic at all, when people from each region see it, they will say, “There it is! Even if I don’t feel nostalgic at all, when people from different areas see it, they get excited and say, “There it is! In my case, there was a store called “Comet” in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture, and I was supporting Chage & Asuka at the time, and their “YAH YAH YAH” was released at about the same time as WANDS’ “Door of Time”. Their “YAH YAH YAH” was released at about the same time as WANDS’ “The Door of Time”. “YAH YAH YAH” was a double A-side with “Yume no Banjin”, so it cost 1200 yen, but “The Door of Time” was a little cheaper at 1000 yen. I really wanted Chageas to be No. 1, so I went to Comet after school and told people who were undecided between WANDS and Chageas, “I’ll give you 200 yen for the difference, so let’s buy Chageas.

That’s a great example of a fan (laughs). Record stores and CD stores are places that people tend to go when they are in their most impressionable years, so I guess each of us has our own memories of them. I’d like to see an exhibit where you draw a map of Japan by flopping these protective mats on a big wall, please make it happen someday!

Where is the goal of your collection?

─ You used the word “protection” very early on in your collecting of fancy pictures and souvenirs, didn’t you?

Mero: That’s right. It’s like trying to protect the culture. At first I thought, “Who will help me? Or if there was someone who was doing the same thing somewhere else, I was willing to give it to them. But it seems that there is no one, and I thought that it is useless to expect people to do something like this, so I decided that it is the responsibility of the person who noticed it to kick it to the goal.

I thought it was up to the person who noticed it to kick it to the goal.

Melo: Without passing it to anyone, without being guarded by anyone, I had to run from the edge of the pitch to the goal and kick it in by myself (laughs). (laughs) Of course, I definitely like this kind of thing, but it’s not the same as wanting to collect something.

It’s more like a sense of mission or duty.

Mero: If I had someone who was interested in the same direction, I could say, “I’ll only collect key chains or teacups,” but since I don’t have anyone like that, I have to do everything myself.

But since there is no one like that, I have to do everything myself. The goal is big, but the field is also wide.

Mero: But, well, I was able to publish a book called “Encyclopedia of Fancy Picture Souvenirs,” and I gained a certain amount of recognition, so when I look back, it was okay.

─ Your family, especially your older sister, who is seven years older than you, has been watching your current activities and your appearances on TV in Heisei retro fashion. What do they think of that?

Melo: I don’t know what they think (laughs). They say, “I saw you on TV, you look amazing,” but that’s about it. But that’s about it. If I ask them for details, they might tell me, but I’ve never heard of it yet.

I’m hoping that Melo Yamashita himself will be created as a fancy character someday. In other words, where is the end of this collection?　I mean, this field seems to have no end, doesn’t it?

Mero: There is no end to it. I don’t think I’ve collected even a tenth of the total.

Melo: You said earlier that you want to “kick it into the goal by yourself.

Melo: I have a goal that I have set for myself, and that is to enter the British Museum.

Wow, that’s a big one!

Melo: You don’t have to do everything. It doesn’t have to be all of them. If they are displayed in the British Museum as ethnographic materials, that’s the goal. I was inspired by Edward Morse (*1938-1925), an American zoologist. I feel very close to Edward Morse (*1938-1925), an American zoologist who is said to have laid the foundations for Japanese anthropology and archaeology, and he had the British Museum collect discarded clogs and other garbage from the Edo period as ethnographic materials.

─ I see, even fancy picture souvenirs are a legacy that shows the customs of the time.

Melo: People always say to me, “Why are you collecting all that garbage? But if there is a precedent for such trash and junk to be in the British Museum, it’s not impossible for fancy souvenirs to be there. But the most important question is “How? But the biggest question is “how?

That’s right.

Melo: I want to kick into the goal as hard as I can, but I haven’t made any concrete moves yet, such as finding someone who has connections to the British Museum. But I think it makes sense to set that as a goal.

Mr. Editor, there is a curator at the British Museum who is interested in various aspects of Japanese culture. At one time, they had “Saint Onii-san” on display. So, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

So I think it’s not impossible.

（It was
five years ago when I first met Mr. Melo. It was at an industry party. At that time, Mr. Melo was already wearing Heisei retro fashion all over, and he stood out from the crowd. I had planned to interview him about his collection someday, but without my help, Mr. Melo expanded his activities as a Heisei retro researcher. Fancy picture souvenirs” have become quite famous, but the greatest harvest for me this time was to hear about the moment of their discovery.

(This series will be updated on the first Friday of every month. The next installment is scheduled for January 7. Please look forward to it!)