Teddy Hugs For All: The Japan Teddy Bear Association’s 34th Japan Teddy Bear With Friends Convention Charity Auction

On October 19 and 20, 2024, the Japan Teddy Bear Association held its 34th Japan Teddy Bear With Friends Convention in Tokyo at the Haneda Airport Garden convention center. This annual event is the largest Teddy bear show in Asia. About 5,000 attendees visited the gathering over the two-day-long celebration. The star of the show was Othello, the breathtaking and all-original 1912 Steiff Titanic Mourning Bear that set a new world record for the most expensive antique Steiff bear sold at auction in July 2023. This treasure now calls Japan his home. Other highlights of the event included 200 exhibitors, seminars, and programs given by experts from the international Teddy bear community, a Teddy bear design contest, a Teddy bear-making workshop, raffles and drawings, and a charity auction. Here’s a bit more about this sale, which was managed a little differently than those held across North America and Europe.

The charity auction was held on an elevated wooden stage that was directly adjacent to the event entranceway. Auction participants stood right below the stage and could view the numbered lots in advance. On the stage were a podium and microphone, and that is where the auctioneers described and sold the lots. The auctioneers were from the Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion auction house of Ladenburg, Germany; this company was also an event sponsor. The auctioneer conducted the bidding primarily in German, with a Japanese translation immediately following each communication from the auctioneer. Another person standing on the stage held up each lot for bidders to see. There were no numbers or paddles; bidders just raised their hands and jumped around a bit to get their bid noticed and registered.

An auction was held in the afternoon of each day of the event. Thirty lots were auctioned per day, and bidding took about three minutes per lot– a little longer than the US standard of approximately 60 to 100 lots per hour. This extended bid period was the result of multiple language translations, as well as much laughing and fun. The lots on offer included a full range of vintage to newer Steiff, including United States and F.A.O. Schwarz exclusives that were particularly appealing to the Japanese audience. On the first day, the auction generated 1,149,000 yen or $7,478. The second-day proceeds were 831,000 yen or $5,387. Overall, the sale had a 98% sell-through rate and an average price of 33,000 yen or $214.41 per lot. The most expensive lot was a prototype teddy bear donated by the Margarete Steiff GmbH company headquarters.

Every year, the Japan Teddy Bear Association holds this sort of auction to benefit a Japanese charity. These funds are usually donated to hospitals and other organizations as part of their Teddy Bear Fund. This year, the proceeds went to support victims in Ishikawa Prefecture– a district on the Japanese island of Honshu– which suffered the deadly Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1. This shaker had a magnitude of 7.6 and generated a tsunami, landslides, and multiple aftershocks. Overall, it resulted in 168,822 structures damaged or destroyed, 426 fatalities, and 1,344 injuries. 

There were no buyer’s or seller’s premiums in this sale. Unlike in Europe and America, auction culture is not very popular in Japan and is still a relatively new concept. Nonetheless, many people attended the sale to bid and/or watch the excitement, and there was never a dull– or slow– moment during the auctions.