Mameshiba (豆しば) is a Japanese merchandise franchise created by copywriter and Korean Japanese national Kim Sukwon. The Mameshiba are different varieties of
beans (and other
legumes and nuts) that have dog-like faces and answer a trivia question. The name is a pun based on the Japanese word for "bean", mame (豆); the
toy version of the
Shiba Inu, called mameshiba (豆柴); and the Japanese word for "trivia", mamechishiki (豆知識, literally "beans of knowledge").
Mameshiba became popular[when?] through a series of animated
interstitials produced by
Dentsu that were sold to Japanese television networks to air instead of commercials. Their popularity in
Japan and
Asia eventually led to their release in the
United States via
Viz Media,
Hot Topic, and some Mameshiba are sold at
FYE. They were famous in
France thanks to the now-defunct television network
Nolife.
^
abcdLau, words by Carrie Shepherd ; comics by Gemma Correll ; design by Fawn (5 July 2011). Meet Mameshiba!. San Francisco: VIZ Media.
ISBN978-1-4215-3972-0.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)