Launch of New Products and Expansion of Target Age Range

「Following the first product, 1 curiosity, launched in 2025, the company launched Baby curiosity, a new baby-toy brand, as the second product during the six-month interim accounting period. It launched 14 renewed existing products in April, followed by 8 new products in July, bringing the series to a total of 22 products.」

「In domestic sales, Pythagoras Ball Coaster in the construction toy category was the main sales driver. In addition, the five-product Baby Observation series and the Kids-Only IC Card P♪siyoca, both launched on 1 July, showed strong initial performance.」

「The main new products launched during the fiscal year were as follows: infant, educational and construction toys: Pythagoras BASIC Educational Essentials Basic Box, Pythagoras BASIC Educational Essentials Round House, Pythagoras Educational Essentials Ball Coaster Super DX, Mischief at 1: Yaritai Houdai Custom and Rice-Powered Animal Train Set; make-your-own toys: Dreamy DIY Toy NejiHapi Magic Wand Screwdriver DIY Set and Dreamy DIY Toy NejiHapi Grand House DIY Set.」

「In the Pythagoras series of infant and educational toys, sets with the Ball Coaster format, which had begun attracting consumers through new ways to play, grew to the point that orders during the year-end sales season resulted in stockouts. The NejiHapi make-your-own toy series also increased sales steadily.」

「The series was expanded with the launch of new products including Dynamic Dinosaur and Ball Coaster Sound, which also allows children to enjoy building shapes and rolling balls.」

「The company launched new products including Make My Child's Favorite: Five-Senses Sigekit, which allows play to be customized as the child grows, and Water and Air 4-Step Educational Mat, a new type of mat that adapts to subtle changes in posture during the rolling-over stage. The Pythagoras series, which had been performing well since the previous year, began its 30th-anniversary campaign in April.」

「The main new products launched during the fiscal year were as follows: infant and educational toys: Pythagoras series, including Pythagoras BASIC Educational Ball Coaster; Baby series, including I Can Mat Alone and Baby-Oshi Switch; girls' toys: NejiHapi series, including NejiHapi Mega DIY Set and NejiHapi Sumikko Gurashi Mega DIY Set; play equipment and vehicles: Educational Athletic Set, Kickle and new Ketter Cycle colors, among others.」

「Among the company's products, the Pythagoras series maintained strong performance, driven by new products launched this year, including Educational Ball Coaster.」

「This year, store closures related to measures against COVID-19 were limited to some stores, so the low-priced baby-toy Non-Character Good Products series, which has strong in-store awareness, also performed steadily. The company maintained sales while updating long-loved standard play concepts for the times, including by launching Baby Newspaper Collaboration Edition, a refreshed version created in collaboration with a popular parenting app to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Baby Newspaper.」

「In the Pythagoras series, which remained strong in the current fiscal year following the previous fiscal year, the company launched two new Educational Ball Coaster products, Standard and DX, in April, adding the educational element of ball dropping, which is enjoyed by children around age 1. They showed a good initial performance. Other new products included Baby-Oshi Switch, an idea born from staying at home, and I Can Mat Alone, as well as Magic Ring You Want to Hold, developed around the period when children dislike holding hands when going out.」

「Ketter Cycle and other products also continued to attract strong expectations from distributors.」

「The Pythagoras series of construction toys, for which demand as an indoor activity increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, attracted consumers and generated sales through new products added to its existing lineup, including Pythagoras BASIC Educational Animal Park at ¥5,000, Pythagoras WORLD Clock House at ¥6,000 and Pythagoras WORLD Crane Building at ¥6,000, all launched in May.」

「In March of the fiscal year, the company launched Hapience, a new girls' science toy series based on STEAM education. It attracted interest from distributors and was featured in programming-education sections, but promotional activities announcing the launch of the new products were restricted by the market conditions described above. From the next quarter onward, the company plans to make additional investments, including television advertising, to expand awareness.」

「In the infant and educational toy category, new products developed from the latest childcare-environment research to meet the needs of today's parents, including Intelligent Remote Control at ¥1,700, PIKAO at ¥3,500 and Smart Educational Gym & Walker at ¥5,800, performed well with the help of campaigns centered on social media and contributed to sales.」

「Among its new products, the company launched Yaritai Houdai Big Real+ in August at ¥5,300 before tax. The product was updated for the Reiwa era to reflect changes in the childcare environment, including the increasingly popular 'dad's glasses' prank for 1-year-olds. Although the company raised the price from the previous level, distributors actively selected it as a key product for sales campaigns, and nationwide exposure has begun. In September, the infant and toddler category saw the launch of products designed to meet mothers' needs identified through the latest childcare-environment research, including PIKAO, a stuffed toy priced at ¥3,500 before tax that uses babies' favorite 'light' and 'face' features to stop them crying, and Smart Educational Gym & Walker, a compact baby gym priced at ¥5,800 before tax that fits minimalist living rooms with its sleek design. These products have performed well in campaigns centered on social media. For indoor play equipment, the company launched Educational Ball Circus at ¥8,400 before tax, allowing children from age 1 who enjoy playing with balls to play to their heart's content. It generated additional sales not seen in the previous year and became a popular large play-equipment product.」

「In the relatively stable construction toy market, the company simultaneously relaunched four Pythagoras products in June, began a brand-renewal campaign, and expanded new in-store displays featuring packaging and content designed to make products easier to choose according to children's ages and abilities, together with dedicated tables and other fixtures. In the same construction toy category, it simultaneously launched two JOIZ products in July in an attempt to capture share from an entirely new market position. JOIZ is the world's first circular block designed to stimulate children's imagination through shape and movement.」

「The division is attracting attention with newly challenged product concepts. For the increasingly popular TV remote-control toy for 1-year-olds, the company launched the Intelligent Remote Control at ¥1,780 before tax, realistically reproducing the product's lightness and thinness. For infants, it launched the Full-Body Stimulating Self-Mobile at ¥1,980 before tax. When placed on the lap during the stage when babies kick their arms and legs, it makes rustling sounds and the giraffe at the top moves widely to entertain the baby. Posts by mothers participating in social media monitoring led to customers specifically seeking the product, which showed a strong initial performance.」

「For low-priced baby products, the company is concentrating investment on renewing long-selling products. The new Five-Senses Development Mobile, priced at ¥2,800 before tax, features a bright red bear entertaining babies with a peekaboo action. It speaks in response to babies' babbling, prompting babies to begin interacting with it, and its uniqueness was well received, making it a new standard mobile product.」

「New products launched during the fiscal year in toys, bicycles and childcare products helped stimulate new demand and generated sales not seen in the previous year. In the toy division, the already-launched and well-received NejiHapi continued to gain popularity and sales steadily and began shipping for year-end demand. In October, the company launched Ito-Nyan Kurutto Roll'n at ¥3,980 before tax and began a campaign to capture a share of year-end demand in the annual girls' knitting-toy market, with a unique toy that helps young children easily create high-quality knitted items with assistance from the Ito-Nyan character. In the bicycle division, 11 items were launched simultaneously in October. Among them, the four Ketter Cycle models attracted strong interest from distributors, expanded their store coverage and drove third-quarter sales through an increase in initial sell-in volume.」

「In infant and toddler toys, the company launched in June Five-Senses Development Mobile, priced at ¥2,800 before tax, which uses peekaboo play to entertain babies. Its red bear motif, featuring babies' babbling, was well received by consumers and generated satisfaction after purchase. In July, strong sales of new Pythagoras products also increased the sales momentum of standard products, while new products in previously untapped categories, including analog games and girls' hobbies, were well received by distributors and increased order volumes.」

「In the infant and educational toy category, the toy division launched Water Educational Toy, an unprecedented new educational toy centered on water, at ¥3,980 before tax. Alongside the response to its television commercials, the product began to become a standard item at major mass retailers.」

「Many existing products that had been repriced upward saw slower sales momentum after the start of the fiscal year, weighing on sales. However, new products less affected by consumers' focus on saving, including Pythagoras' Educational Pythagoras for 1-Year-Olds at ¥3,980 before tax, increased the number of new purchasers. Relaunched products such as Pythagoras Eureka Plates at ¥12,000 before tax were also promoted in conjunction with the Educational Pythagoras for 1-Year-Olds campaign, increasing the number of consumers reached by more than 10% from the previous year despite their high prices.」

「In construction toys, the company developed uniquely designed blocks that glow in the dark through an industry–academia collaboration project with Tokyo Denki University. It launched two LUMINOID products at ¥3,000 and ¥5,000 before tax, attracting a new target customer base consisting entirely of 6-year-old boys, which had not existed in the company's under-3 product line.」

「In the infant and educational toy category, the company launched the Yaritai Houdai Smart Book at ¥4,800 before tax during the quarter, in July, as part of its standard products and Yaritai Houdai series. The product has contributed to sales by attracting strong expectations from distributors.」

「In the low-priced infant products category, the company is seeking to create new demand by launching four products at toy retailers under the new TOYbon concept, which combines read-aloud picture books that babies respond to from 2 months of age with toys. It also launched the higher-priced Ear-Education Canopy, featuring organic sound designed to stimulate the brain through the ears, at ¥6,800 before tax.」

「Pythagoras, which had been sluggish in the first half, performed well during the third quarter, recovering to the previous year's level, helped by television commercials following the relaunch of its cube-type products.」

「Despite the difficult environment, including for existing products, several products launched during the quarter have become hits, including All-Star, an educational fingertip toy priced at ¥2,980 before tax, and the Pythagoras educational construction toy products designed to stimulate boys' brains and girls' brains, each priced at ¥5,800, which were developed with the target age raised to 4–5 years. Other new products not available in the previous year, including the Realistic Five-Senses Stimulating Key at ¥1,200 and Suzy's Zoo Kichinto-i Close Hug Friend at ¥3,980, are also selling steadily despite their low prices, providing a bright spot among the underperforming existing products.」