The Moomins are a family of hippo-like creatures that feature in books by Finnish author and illustrator2 Tove Jansson. They are a family of fairy-tale creatures made up of Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Moomintroll, often called just the Moomins. They have a series of adventures together and with other characters over the course of nine books, comic strips3, cartoons, and a full-length4 movie.
The books are classics of children's literature5 in Finland, and the comic strip was always popular. The thing that really made Moomin's popularity increase, however, was a 104-episode animated series that ran in Japan in the early 1990s. The cute animation6 of the strange Moomins' world started the Moomin boom.
Over the following years, Moomin would become wildly popular around the world, especially in Japan. The Moomin family are now the mascots7 of Daiei shopping centers, and there is a full range of Moomin gifts and toys. There are gift shops which only sell Moomin products, as well as a theme park in Finland and several cafes in Japan. The cafes really stand out as they offer people dining alone a stuffed Moomin toy to keep them company while they eat.
