A yellow Tamagotchi made in 1997, in the collection of Museum Rotterdam (object 78041). Photo Museum Rotterdam, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Tamagotchi
What it took directly
- documentedTamagotchi took from a television commercial about a boy who insisted on taking his turtle to kindergarten"Maita hatched the idea for a virtual pet about a year ago while watching a television commercial about a little boy who insisted on taking his turtle to kindergarten." Asiaweek (Murakami Mutsuko), reporting Aki Maita's account
- documentedAkihiro Yokoi's virtual-pet idea took from an advertisement in which a boy could not bring his pet turtle on vacation"As Yokoi explained to the New York Times, the jolt came from an advertisement in which a boy wasn’t allowed to bring his pet turtle on vacation." Smithsonian (Michelle Delgado, 2021), relaying Yokoi's account to the New York Times; the same article notes nobody has found the ad
- documentedTamagotchi comes from Akihiro Yokoi of Wiz Company and Aki Maita of Bandai"Akihiro Yokoi of Wiz Company in Chiba, Japan and Aki Maita of Bandai Company in Tokyo, the father and mother of Tamagotchi" Ig Nobel Prize citation, Economics, 1997 (Improbable Research)
- documentedTamagotchi's colour, chain and packaging took from a street test with about 200 high-school girls in Tokyo's Shibuya district"Last October, Maita took Tamagotchi prototypes to the streets of Tokyo's Shibuya district for a consumer test. She handed them out to about 200 high-school girls." Asiaweek (Murakami Mutsuko), reporting Aki Maita's consumer test
- documentedTamagotchi's egg shape took from the pocket watch, after a wristwatch proved too costly to make"Although initially conceived as a wristwatch, prohibitive manufacturing costs inspired Tamagotchi’s iconic egg-shape, meant to resemble a pocket watch." The Strong National Museum of Play
- documentedTamagotchi's character took from a quick sketch by a designer in one meeting, whose name the record does not keep"During one memorable meeting, a designer quickly sketched a blobby character, and it stuck." Smithsonian (Michelle Delgado, 2021)
What it learned to do
- statedTamagotchi took from a technician and a public-relations colleague, unnamed, who turned Maita's concept into a product"No, it wasn't my accomplishment alone. I only came up with the idea, developed the concept and took charge of the marketing program. It also took a technician and public relations person to make it into a product" Aki Maita, to Asiaweek (Murakami Mutsuko)
- statedAki Maita learned from her first two years at Bandai, tracking and logging sales data"It was good training and it's where I developed an instinct for what will sell and what won't." Aki Maita, to Asiaweek (Murakami Mutsuko)
The tradition it sits in
- documentedTamagotchi comes from kawaii (cute)"it would have to be a portable game that could be played anywhere, anytime. And, most important, it would be kawaii, or cute." Asiaweek (Murakami Mutsuko), on what Maita decided the toy needed
- inferredTamagotchi comes from the cheap handheld electronic game, a line that runs back to Mattel's single-game handhelds of 1977"Handheld games had been around since Mattel launched single-game consoles in 1977—but early portable consoles were too expensive for most players" inferred — Smithsonian sets Tamagotchi after Mattel's 1977 handhelds and the falling cost of small electronics (historian Carly Kocurek); no source says Wiz or Bandai drew on them directly
- documentedTamagotchi comes from 1970s Pet Rock kitsch"borrowed all the gimmickry of 1970s' Pet Rock kitsch and gave it a digital facelift." Wired, dismissing the toy at its U.S. launch (quoted by Smithsonian, 2021)
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedTamagotchi comes from two childhood wishes: a toy that comes alive, and a pet you can take anywhere"the handheld game Tamagotchi began with two fanciful childhood wishes: having a toy come alive and bringing a pet wherever you go." The Strong National Museum of Play
- documentedAkihiro Yokoi comes from a household of a dog, three cats, two parrots and several beetles"An owner of “a dog, three cats, two parrots, and several beetles and other insects,” Yokoi identified with the boy’s longing." Smithsonian (Michelle Delgado, 2021)
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