{
  "id": 12889537,
  "title": "New Sonic the Hedgehog figure costs 1 million yen, is made of Arita ware Japanese porcelain [Vid]",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/new-sonic-the-hedgehog-figure-costs-1-million-yen-is-made-of-arita",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-08T14:00:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SoraNews24",
    "slug": "soranews24",
    "url": "https://soranews24.com/2026/10/08/new-sonic-the-hedgehog-figure-costs-1-million-yen-is-made-of-arita-ware-japanese-porcelain-vid/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog is known for his constant motion, displayed through his motto \"Gotta go fast\" and idle animations like tapping his foot. Creating a stationary figure that captures his kinetic energy is challenging, especially when crafting it from traditional Japanese ceramics like Arita ware. Arita, in Saga Prefecture, has been producing fine ceramics since the 16th century. To bring Sonic to life in porcelain, Yoyoyo, a Japanese ceramics brand, enlisted three Arita artist organizations for the Infinite Blue figurine. The 21.3-centimeter (8.4-inch) tall figure used 224 porcelain pieces, combining traditional and digital methods to recreate Sonic's contours, including the blur of his feet when running at top speed. The lower half is depicted as the blur formed by Sonic's feet in-game, requiring careful adjustment of the clay thickness to prevent distortion or cracking during firing. After the first firing, the figurine was sent to Arita's Riso Porcelain for glazing, where hand-painted traditional Japanese motifs like seigaiha, shippo, and yagasuri patterns were used to match Sonic's unique, cute-but-edgy appearance. The glazing process used Arata pigment producer Fukami Shoten's cobalt blue glaze, with artists adjusting brush pressure and pigment concentration to make the figure appear as if it's sprinting through light, even while standing still.",
  "summary": "Yoyoyo says the Sega star not only has gotta go fast, he’s gotta be Arita-yaki too. Sonic the Hedgehog’s whole thing is being in motion. From his “Gotta go fast” motto to being one of the first big-name video game characters with idle animations (one of which was him impatiently tapping his foot), Sonic does […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}