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Nostalgia and New Fans as Tamagotchi Turns 30

More than 100 million of the pocket-sized plastic eggs have been sold worldwide since their debut three decades ago. (AFP)
More than 100 million of the pocket-sized plastic eggs have been sold worldwide since their debut three decades ago. (AFP)
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Nostalgia and New Fans as Tamagotchi Turns 30

More than 100 million of the pocket-sized plastic eggs have been sold worldwide since their debut three decades ago. (AFP)
More than 100 million of the pocket-sized plastic eggs have been sold worldwide since their debut three decades ago. (AFP)

Japan's Tamagotchi toys were a 1990s playground craze and the virtual pets that demand food and attention are still a hit among retro-loving Gen Z and nostalgic parents.

More than 100 million of the pocket-sized plastic eggs have been sold worldwide since their debut, manufacturer Bandai Namco says.

The company is showing off the Tamagotchi's evolution from bouncing black-and-white pixelated characters to color screens and wifi connectivity at a special 30th anniversary exhibition that opens in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Swinging from keychains, the Tamagotchi -- whose name is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for "egg" and "watch" -- has become a popular fashion accessory among young people in recent years, according to Bandai.

Sales of Tamagotchi merchandise, not including video games, rose around sevenfold in five years from 2019, it says.

Rafaela Miranda Freire, a 15-year-old Brazilian tourist visiting Tokyo's Harajuku shopping district with her mother, told AFP she didn't own a Tamagotchi but liked the idea.

"It's really nostalgic and cute. Like some 2000s cute aesthetic," she said, admitting that some people her age "just don't like it or think it's childish".

But old-school toys can be a healthy alternative to social media, Freire said.

"It's good. You just get off the phone and appreciate the small things in life."

- Top toy -

Last year British retailer Hamleys ranked the Tamagotchi in its list of the top 100 toys of all time, alongside the likes of Lego and the Rubik's Cube.

The digital pets, which need attending to when they are hungry, sick or have defecated on the virtual floor, grow up as users care for them -- but can die if they are neglected.

Entering the exhibition through a giant white egg, visitors can view various photo-friendly displays and a history room where they can play with some of the dozens of different models released over the years.

Nearly half of all Tamagotchi unit sales were in Japan, with 33 percent in the Americas but just two percent in other Asia-Pacific countries, Bandai Namco says.

Harajuku shopper Yumeho Akita, 25, told AFP she had good memories of raising her Tamagotchi for several months during her childhood.

"I really wanted one, and I finally got one, so I cherished it and raised the character very carefully," she recalled.

And some parents say they want their children to experience the same.

US screenwriter Justin Piasecki, on holiday in Japan, told AFP he had recently bought Tamagotchis for Christmas for his two daughters, aged four and six.

"They basically have a computer science degree in Tamagotchi at this point," the 41-year-old told AFP. "I thought I would need to show them how to do it, but now they're showing me."

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Varieties

‘Hectic’ Bushfires Threaten Rural Towns in Australian Heatwave

Smoke from the Longwood bushfire is seen at a staging area outside Seymour in central Victoria, Australia, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
Smoke from the Longwood bushfire is seen at a staging area outside Seymour in central Victoria, Australia, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
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‘Hectic’ Bushfires Threaten Rural Towns in Australian Heatwave

Smoke from the Longwood bushfire is seen at a staging area outside Seymour in central Victoria, Australia, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
Smoke from the Longwood bushfire is seen at a staging area outside Seymour in central Victoria, Australia, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)

Bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in southeast Australia on Friday, firefighters said, as hot winds fanned "hectic" conditions in the tinder-dry countryside.

Temperatures soared past 40C as a heatwave blanketed the region, creating some of the most dangerous bushfire weather since the "Black Summer" blazes of 2019-2020.

Dozens of rural hamlets in the state of Victoria were urged to evacuate while they still could, while three people, including a child, were missing inside one of the state's most dangerous fire grounds.

"If you don't leave now, it could result in your life being lost," Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch told reporters.

Powerful wind gusts temporarily grounded firefighting aircraft trying to contain some 30 different blazes dotted across the state.

Already, firefighters fear at least 20 houses have burnt to the ground in the small town of Ruffy, about two hours' drive north of state capital Melbourne.

Country Fire Authority boss Jason Heffernan said the fire danger was "catastrophic" -- the most severe rating possible.

"Victorians should brace themselves for more property loss or worse.

"Today is going to be quite a hectic and volatile day for firefighters, fire authorities and communities."

One of the most destructive bushfires has already razed some 28,000 hectares (70,000 acres) near the town of Longwood, a region cloaked in native forests.

"Some properties have lost everything," said local fire captain George Noye.

"They've lost their livelihoods, they've lost their shearing sheds, livestock, just absolutely devastating," he told national broadcaster ABC.

"But thankfully, at the moment, no lives have been lost."

The worst bushfires have so far been confined to sparsely populated rural areas where towns might number a few hundred people at the most.

- 'Black Summer' -

Photos taken this week showed the night sky glowing orange as the fire near Longwood -- north of state capital Melbourne -- ripped through bushland.

"There were embers falling everywhere. It was terrifying," cattle farmer Scott Purcell told the ABC.

Another bushfire near the small town of Walwa crackled with lightning as it radiated enough heat to form a localized thunderstorm, fire authorities said.

Hundreds of firefighters from across Australia have been called in to help.

"Today represents one of the most dangerous fire days that this state has experienced in years," said state premier Jacinta Allan.

Allan urged people to flee rather than stay put and try to save their homes.

"You will simply not win against the fires of these magnitudes that are created on days like today."

Millions of people in Australia's two most populous states -- Victoria and New South Wales -- are sweltering through the heatwave, including in major cities Sydney and Melbourne.

Power outages left more than 30,000 houses without electricity on one of the hottest days to hit Victoria in years.

Hundreds of baby bats died earlier this week as stifling temperatures settled over the neighboring state of South Australia, a local wildlife group said.

The "Black Summer" bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

Australia's climate has warmed by an average of 1.51C since 1910, researchers have found, fueling increasingly frequent extreme weather patterns over both land and sea.

Australia remains one of the world's largest producers and exporters of gas and coal, two key fossil fuels blamed for global heating.

Varieties

New Zealand's Rare Flightless Parrot Begins Breeding Again

New Zealand's critically endangerd kakapo parrot only breeds every few years. Don Merton / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION/AFP/File
New Zealand's critically endangerd kakapo parrot only breeds every few years. Don Merton / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION/AFP/File
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New Zealand's Rare Flightless Parrot Begins Breeding Again

New Zealand's critically endangerd kakapo parrot only breeds every few years. Don Merton / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION/AFP/File
New Zealand's critically endangerd kakapo parrot only breeds every few years. Don Merton / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION/AFP/File

New Zealand's critically endangered flightless parrot, the kakapo, started breeding last week for the first time in four years, the government conservation department said.

Only 236 of the rotund and regal-looking green parrots remain in three breeding populations on some of New Zealand's most remote southern islands.

That includes 83 breeding age females, with high hopes this year could bring the most hatched chicks since records began, said AFP.

"It's always exciting when the breeding season officially begins, but this year it feels especially long-awaited after such a big gap since the last season in 2022," said Deidre Vercoe, the Department of Conservation's kakapo recovery operations manager.

"Now it is underway, we expect more mating over the next month and we are preparing for what might be the biggest breeding season since the program began 30 years ago."

In 1995 the Department of Conservation and indigenous Maori tribe Ngai Tahu launched the Kakapo Recovery Program, with a population of just 51 birds at serious risk of extinction.

By 2022, numbers had rebounded to 252, but 16 birds died over the past four years.

This mating season is the 13th in the past 30 years, with the bird breeding every two to four years.

"Kakapo are still critically endangered so we'll keep working hard to increase numbers," Vercoe said.

"But looking ahead, chick numbers are not our only measure of success. We want to create healthy, self-sustaining populations of kakapo that are thriving, not just surviving.

"This means with each successful breeding season we're aiming to reduce the level of intensive, hands-on management to return to a more natural state."

Tane Davis, a Ngai Tahi representative on the recovery program, said it was hoped kakapo would one day thrive throughout New Zealand's South Island.

The first chicks are expected to hatch in mid-February.

Varieties

Hundreds of Thousands without Power as Storm Goretti Pummels Europe

A huge wave crashes on the jetty of the harbor of Le Conquet, western France on January 8, 2026 as storm Goretti is announced to approach France's northern coasts. (Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP)
A huge wave crashes on the jetty of the harbor of Le Conquet, western France on January 8, 2026 as storm Goretti is announced to approach France's northern coasts. (Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP)
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Hundreds of Thousands without Power as Storm Goretti Pummels Europe

A huge wave crashes on the jetty of the harbor of Le Conquet, western France on January 8, 2026 as storm Goretti is announced to approach France's northern coasts. (Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP)
A huge wave crashes on the jetty of the harbor of Le Conquet, western France on January 8, 2026 as storm Goretti is announced to approach France's northern coasts. (Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP)

Fierce winds battered France and Britain on Friday as Storm Goretti barreled through northern Europe, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of households in plunging winter temperatures.

Forecasters from Britain to Germany urged people to stay inside as they issued weather warnings, including the rare, highest-level red wind alert for the British Isles of Scilly and Cornwall in southwestern England, AFP said.

In France, some 380,000 households lost power, the vast majority in the northern Normandy region, the Enedis power provider said, while the BBC said some 65,000 households lost electricity in Britain.

Overnight, wind gusts of 216 and 213 kilometers per hour (134 miles, 132 miles ) were registered in France's northwestern Manche region, authorities said.

The squalls felled trees in several regions, with at least one crashing on residential buildings in France's Seine-Maritime region, without injuries, authorities said.

Gusts of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour were expected in parts of Britain and "very large waves will bring dangerous conditions to coastal areas", Britain's Met Office said.

It also issued an amber snow warning in Wales, central England and parts of northern England, predicting snow of up to 30 centimeters (11 inches) in some areas.

The UK's National Rail has said train services will be affected over the next two days, and called on people to avoid travel unless necessary.

School cancelled, travel disruption

Schools remained shut in northern France, where weather alerts have been issued in 30 other regions.

"Take shelter and do not use your vehicle," the Manche prefecture warned on X on Thursday, urging residents to prepare emergency lighting and a drinking water supply.

Europe's current extreme weather conditions have caused at least eight deaths, and on Thursday police in the Albanian city of Durres pulled a man's body from floodwater following days of heavy snow and torrential rain across the Balkans.

In Germany, heavy snow and winds in the north were set to affect schools, hospitals and transport links.

Up to 15 centimeters of snow (six inches) could fall in the north, and there was a risk of icy conditions in the south, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

Temperatures this weekend could plunge to as low as -20C in certain areas, DWD meteorologist Andreas Walter told AFP.

Some areas have announced schools will shut on Friday, including in the northern cities of Hamburg and Bremen.

In Hamburg, the weather had already caused delays and cancellations on the public transport network on Thursday.

The national rail company Deutsche Bahn warned of significant delays in the coming days and has mobilized more than 14,000 employees to clear snow from tracks and platforms.

'Consequence of climate change'

The DWD said the storm is expected to last until Saturday, with snowfall stopping on Monday.

Walter said the storm was an exception when compared to the last few years of milder winters, which were a "consequence of climate change".

"It's still possible to have a cold month with snow, even as temperatures rise due to climate change, but such events will become rarer in the future," he said.