Danica Davidson
January 17, 2022 
On January 13, Otaku USA reported the news that Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, who sticks with hand-drawn animation and old-fashioned tools, was trying to find a replacement for his broken electric eraser. However, the type of electric eraser he used is no longer made.
Ghibli shared the news and put out a call for a new electric eraser. At first Japanese netizens responded with used erasers and similar erasers, but then there was finally a hit.
Someone from the Sakura Color Products Corporation (a.k.a. Sakura Craypas) tweeted an image from an old catalogue that showed they used to sell Miyazaki’s type of electric eraser.
これだ。
(昔のカタログ引っ張り出してきました) pic.twitter.com/U6XAzNdUiv
— サクラクレパス【公式】 (@1921_SAKURA) January 11, 2022
Studio Ghibli replied with this image.
— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) January 11, 2022
It took some digging, but then Sakura Craypas tweeted, “Got it… Got it!! Ghibli!!!!” And they shared an image of the no-longer-made electric eraser, unopened, from their factory.
あった…
ありました！！ジブリさん！！！！#ジブリさんに届け pic.twitter.com/ZG0bwaMQ1S
— サクラクレパス【公式】 (@1921_SAKURA) January 13, 2022
Studio Ghibli gave this lengthy reply, complete with a picture of Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle.
な……なんと！スタッフ一同ビックリ&感激しております。倉庫までお運びくださったのですね………ありがとうございパス。
宮﨑さんに報告したところ、
「ありがとうございます！」
とのことでしたので、ぜひ購入させてください。 pic.twitter.com/hNllU2hDNq— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) January 13, 2022
“Wha…what! All the staff are surprised & impressed. You brought it out of the stockroom for us, didn’t you…arigatou gozaipasu. When we informed Miyazaki, he said ‘Thank you!’ so please allow us to buy it.”
The “arigatou gozaipasu” is a pun, combining the real way to say thank you (“arigatou gozaimasu”) and how Sakura Craypas likes to say “pasu” to sound cute. And the writing next to Sophie is “doki doki,” which is an onomatopoeia for the sound of an excited heartbeat.
Sakura Craypas answered:
“Thank you very much for using our products for so many years! We would be honored if this is even the slightest bit helpful for your future works. It’s a discontinued product, so please allow us to give it to you as a present from Sakura Craypas.”
But Studio Ghibli insisted:
“To the person in charge,
Don’t be ridiculous…we’re grateful to just be able to buy the discontinued product. Electric erasers are an indispensable tool so the sound of electric erasers always echoes around our studio. One of our staff will send an email to your company info email.
Thank you.”
To which Sakura Craypas said:
“Oh wow. We’re so happy for you to describe it as an indispensable tool. We can picture the scene with the sound of electric erasers echoing (so warm and cozy). We look forward to hearing from you.”
Studio Ghibli retorted with another “Arigatou gozaipasu.”
And it turns out the person helping at Sakura Crapas is a Ghibli fan, as they explained on Twitter:
“I grew up watching Ghibli. I have great memories of wanting to look like Kiki when I was little, and my mom went out of her way to find me a long dark blue dress and take photos of me in a full outfit. And last week, when I saw Spirited Away, I thought I had to go to and see it on stage. I’m so glad to be on Twitter.”
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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