WHAT IS "HEISEI RETRO"?

Heisei Retro is an aesthetic that draws its key motifs from Japanese pop culture, fashion, and tech from the years 1989 - 2019 (the ‘Heisei’ era of Japan).

Heisei Retro evokes a similar sense of nostalgia to the more Western-focused ‘Y2K’ aesthetic.

ANIME/MANGA

FASHION

MASCOTS

TECH AND TOYS

ANIME/MANGA

Pokemon Indigo League, 1997 - 1999

Anime and manga are a huge part of why the nostalgia of the Heisei era can be felt worldwide, as these were the years that Japanese media was becoming more and more accessible to international audiences. Saban Entertainment brought Dragon Ball Z, Power Rangers (aka Super Sentai in Japan), Digimon, and the much lesser known (but dear to my heart) Shinzo to western audiences, as did 4kids Entertainment with Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dic with Sailor Moon, partnering with western television channels to turn anime into Saturday-morning cartoon classics for generations of children.

I find Digimon to be really emblematic of the time period and what was popular at the time; it was first introduced by Bandai as a series of virtual pet toys that were "intended as the masculine counterpart to Tamagotchi." We've got fun tie-in merchandise--not a huge surprise, many beloved cartoons were designed to sell toys.

The critical difference here is the type of toy--the futuristic-feeling virtual pet--and the emphasis on a world of fantasy creatures and the bond they share with their human companions, reminiscent of Pokemon.

Another culutral phenomenon of the era was Sailor Moon, a work which redefined the magical girl genre. The focus on hero transformations (in the style of a tokusatsu show like Super Sentai or Kamen Rider) as well as its focus on action drew in an older crowd, and inspired many, many works to come.

Sailor Moon anime, 1992 – 1997

Magic Knight Rayearth OVA, 1997

Cardcaptor Sakura anime, 1998 – 2000

Ojamajo Doremi (Magical Doremi) anime, 1999 - 2000

Tokyo Mew Mew manga, 2000 - 2003

Princess Tutu anime, 2002 - 2003

Pretty Cure anime, 2004 - 2005

Shugo Chara anime, 2007 - 2008

Within Japan, this was the time of an "otaku boom" popularizing the more niche interests of computers, anime, and video games, and legitimizing otaku as a worthwhile market and transforming the Tokyo district of Akihabara into, as Manami Okazaki put it, "the epicenter for geek culture in Tokyo." (- Akihabara, Japan: A Guide Through the Anime Capital of the World)

"The success of Evangelion and the big money it was raking in convinced shop owners of otaku-related merchandise scattered across Tokyo and elsewhere to relocate in Akihabara, which was fast becoming a center for the evolving culture." (-Defining the Heisei Era: Examining the rise of otaku culture)

FASHION

Street fashion took off during this era, largely associated with the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo's Shibuya district. (-Harajuku Fashion on the aesthetics wiki) Let's look at some trends, aesthetics and styles of the time!

Gyaru

"Often associated with gaudy fashion styles, an extreme makeup style and dyed hair. The term gyaru is a Japanese transliteration of the English slang word gal." (-Gyaru definition on Wikipedia)

Two young women wearing 'ganguro' style in the '90s.

Lolita

Lolita "is a Japanese fashion-based subculture inspired by girls' and young women's clothing styles from the Victorian and Rococo periods" (-Lolita fashion from the aesthetics wiki).

Angelic Pretty, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Innocent World, and Alice and the Pirates are among the core brands for Lolita fashion.

Decora

Decora is a street fashion originating in Harajuku that puts an emphasis on accessories, often to the point of obscuring the outfit itself; it is 'anti-fashion' in the sense that it rejects traditional or high fashion sensibilities. Common elements include excessive hair clips, face stickers, the incorporation of toys (especially 80s/90s toys) as accessories, and bright primary colors.

Tamaki photographed by Tokyo Fashion.com.

Visual kei singer Erunyan from band Awake photographed by Tokyo Fashion.com.

Young folks wearing Decora fashion from October 2000 issue of Fruits magazine

MASCOTS

Sanrio has been around since the 60's, with ebbs and flows of popularity. Hello Kitty is consistently the most popular, but there were a lot of fun and iconic characters to debut in the heisei era in particular!

The colorful rabbit U*SA*HA*NA, also written as Usahana, debuted right at the turn of the millenium in 2000! Usahana is also my secret santa's fav, and with good reason! Look at this cutie!

Making his first appearance around 2002, Cinnamoroll--while often mistaken for a bunny--is a sweet little dog who was born in the clouds.

Jewelpet was a notable line of characters to debut at this time, another franchise which pairs adorable and unique animal/creature mascots with human companions. This time, there is a magical girl element to the series, again showing the cultural impact and popularity of the genre at the time.

Jewelpet plushies of Ruby and Sapphire.

Official artwork of Garnet, Ruby, and Sapphire.

While it feels like Kuromi has been around forever, the mischevious foil to My Melody actually debuted in 2005!

Kuromi is so damn cute

Official artwork from a 2022 'heisei era' themed merchandise line featuring Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty and My Melody!

San-X characters got very popular during this time, particularly ones like Rilakkuma, the relaxed bear, and his friends. They may or may not actually be bears and instead be bear costumes...it's unclear. All that is certain is that Rilakkuma characters embody a lazy and warm sort of feeling.

Korilakkuma and Rilakkuma sharing a little scarf.

Chairoikoguma, Korilakkuma, Rilakkuma and their little bird pal Kiiroitori staying warm in a bear shaped igloo.

Mamegoma is another San-X mascot, a seal so small they can fit inside a goldfish bowl!

Mamegoma even has a series of adorable virtual pet style videogames on the Nintendo DS and 3DS.

Miffy is a little rabbit character by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. Miffy is popular for her simple and cute design; she was actually created in 1955, and celebrated her 70th birthday in 2025!

Official art of Miffy at school, 1990

A rare human mascot of the era, Yotsuba is the young protagonist of beloved slice of life manga series "Yotsuba&!" This work is by mangaka Kiyohiko Azuma, a talented artist who also created the slice of life school series Azumangah Daioh. Yotsuba's adventures continue to this day, as the manga is still being drawn and serialized (*as of writing, 2025).

The series is beloved in equal measure for its art--full of beautiful scenes of everyday life as well as expressive characters--its comedy and its heart.

I would be remiss not to include some Studio Ghibli characters here, as some of the studio's most beloved works are from the Heisei era.

Satsuki, Mei, and Totoro in My Neighbor Totoro, 1988

Kiki flying with Jiji, Kiki's Delivery Service, 1989

Chihiro and No Face, Spirited Away, 2001

Sophie and Calcifer, Howl's Moving Castle, 2004

Hamtaro is a series of manga and storybooks created and illustrated by Ritsuko Kawai about the titular pet hamster.

Cover of the first 'Trotting Hamtaro' book, 1997.

Hamtaro anime, 2000

Hamtaro plushies, 2000's

Toro Inoue debuted in the 1999 PlayStation virtual pet videogame "Doko Demo Issyo," or "Together Everywhere." Toro became one of the brand mascots for Sony's PlayStation console.

Toro Inoue Calendar - 2000 March, April // Visual.

This gives us a good segue into the topic of...

TECH AND TOYS

I personally associate this era with the fifth and sixth-generation of videogame consoles and handhelds, lasting from about 1993 - 2010. This era saw the transition into 3D graphics as well as CD storage rather than ROMs. But, as these transitions were in their infancy, the retro vibe remains. We also saw a lot of the "Y2K futurism" or "frutiger aero" sort of aesthetic with the hardware on these devices, such as the translucent atomic purple case for the GameBoy Color (shown below). As mentioned in the aesthetics wiki's Y2K Futurism page, "product and hardware design from the era embraced translucency and bright colors, exemplified by Apple's iMac G3. The color palette was typically cool-toned, dominated by icy blues, silver, and glossy white, often punctuated by sharp accents of lime green or orange. This visual style was ubiquitous in the graphic design, music videos, and video game interfaces of the period."

Sega Saturn, 1994

Sony PlayStation, 1994

Nintendo 64, 1996

Game Boy Color, 1998

Sega Dreamcast, 1998

Sony PlayStation 2, 2000

Nintendo GameCube, 2001

Xbox, 2001

Game Boy Advance, 2001

Game Boy Advance SP, 2003

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP), 2004

Note: I hope to someday own one of these things and use it as my own little Persona machine XD

As touched upon earlier, virtual pets and tech-based toys were a burgeoning market during this era, with Bandai's Tamagotchi toyline at its forefront.

Promotional image for the original Tamagotchi release in 1996.

Tamagotchi were wildly popular after their release in the late 90s, having been described as "[spawning] the virtual pet genre and [leading] to many knock-off products or imitators at the time, such as Tiger/Hasbro's Giga Pet."(-Tamagotchi wikipedia page). Another passage I find interesting is a few paragraphs later, the Wikipedia describes the peak of the original Tamagotchi fad, where "children frequently took Tamagotchi digital pets to school because in the first two releases (Generation 1 and Generation 2), a character could die in less than half a day if it did not receive adequate care." Talk about emphasizing responsible pet care!

The Wikipedia page states that Tamagotchi had another wave of popularity in the 2000s with their Tamagotchi Connection line--anecdotally, this was my generation of Tamagochi, and I still have my original two toys; a v3 pink heart shell and a red v4 origami shell.

This was also, notably, the era of widespread cell phones! The most iconic visual here is flip phones, but phones at the time came in plenty of shapes, styles, and colors, and were often customized further with stickers and phone charms.