KITA-KYUSHU: Oh baby! It feels just like a bundle of joy

Never mind the Tamagotchi electronic baby toy. With the Dakigokochi, you can actually cuddle your gift.

A Dakigokochi is a baby-shaped bag filled with rice. It weighs exactly as much as the newborn infant whose photo is printed on the bag.

New parents and proud grandparents who shop at the Yoshimiya rice shop in a residential area of Kita-Kyushu's Yahata-Nishi Ward are ordering the cuddly bags as gifts to celebrate recent births.

Orders for the unusual product are coming in from all over via the shop's Web site, owner Naruo Ono, 33, said. Yoshimiya has sold more than 1,500 bags since June.

It is personalized with a photograph of the new baby printed on the rice bag's surface. The newborn's name and birth weight are also printed on the bag, along with a short message from the proud parents.

"(The Dakigokochi) is a great way to let far-away relatives experience holding the new baby. I hope people will use this idea to spread their joyous news," he said.

Each Dakigokochi is about 30 centimeters long and rounded at the top. Holding it feels just like holding a swaddled baby.

The vinyl rice bag has a traditional washi paper covering. The gift comes wrapped in a furoshiki cloth tied with a fancy gift knot.

The idea came to Ono when he and his bride Yukiko, 26, were planning their October 2006 wedding. Naturally, they wanted to hand out gifts with rice as the theme.

Each of the couple's wedding guests went home with a packet of rice, adorned with a picture of the blissful bride and groom. The unusual party favor was well received.

The young entrepreneurs thought it might also work as a baby announcement gift.

Ono printed up a prototype Dakigokochi bag of rice and displayed it in the shop.

Their first customer was a person who happened to stop by the shop. These days, however, most orders come in through the Internet.

The Onos receive a lot of happy e-mail responses from satisfied customers.

One wrote: "It feels like I am really holding a baby!" Another said, "The newborn's big brother and sister like to use the (Dakigokochi) package when they play house."

Ono said: "When I am preparing the bags, I am always hoping that everyone will be proud of their baby and go around showing off their little bundle of joy."

The Dakigokochi success came as a big surprise. It has changed Ono's routine dramatically. While he used to spend most days taking rice orders and making deliveries in the neighborhood, now, more often than not, Ono finds himself in front of his computer, fiddling with images on the screen.

In August, the Onos welcomed their first son, Sota, now four months old.

"We have been so busy, to tell the truth, I haven't got around to sending off my own Dakigokochi gifts yet," Ono said with a sheepish grin.

The package can be filled with Koshihikari rice grown in either Niigata Prefecture (4,200 yen) or Yamaguchi Prefecture (3,500 yen). The flat rates apply no matter how much the newborn weighed at birth.

Call 093-611-0894 or visit < www.yosimiya.com >. The company also sells rice gift bags for other occasions. (IHT/Asahi: January 8,2008)