is a 10½ inch

fashion doll Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adults. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, thou ...

produced by Japanese toy company now known as

Takara Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...

since 1982. The doll was known as ''Takara Barbie'', and in 1986 the doll was renamed "Jenny" after Takara ended their licensing agreement with

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in mor ...

. Takara Barbie differs from a western Barbie. Takara Barbie was altered to better appeal to Japanese preferences, with a shorter height, large rounded

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

-style eyes and a closed mouth. Like her Western counterpart, Jenny wears a large variety of outfits, which often include street fashion,

school uniforms A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shirt ...

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

, and other uniquely Japanese costumes, such as "Bullet-Train Stewardess Jenny". Today the Jenny doll is a sentimental favorite doll in Japan, but she is much less popular than Licca-chan, Japan's market leader fashion doll.

Name

Prior to 1986, the doll was known as ''Takara Barbie''. In 1986 Takara ended their licensing agreement with

, and, as they owned the rights over the Takara Barbie's design, came up with a new name for the doll.Japan's Jenny: Takara's Trend Setting Fashion Doll
/ref> The explanation given for the name change was that ''Jenny'' was the name of a character ''Barbie'' portrayed in a play, also titled ''Jenny''. The play was a success and Barbie had become so associated with her character's name that she decided to change it to Jenny."Introducing Takara's Jenny" by David Hammon, Barbie Bazaar, January/February 1995 Issue Jenny's boyfriend was renamed from "Takara Ken" to "Jeff".

Name

See also

References

Further reading