Gorbymania Gets All Dolled Up

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev may face opposition at home, but to the Japanese he is fast becoming an idol.

Polls indicate that Gorbachev is one of the most popular figures in Japan, where he has inspired a craze for Soviet-related goods such as the “Gorby Doll,” books about what used to be called the East Bloc and even Soviet holidays.

“We are amazed by this great reaction,” said Tomoki Kajiwara, sales manager at Tokyo doll maker Avanti Ltd., which has just launched a Gorbachev doll priced at $25.

Kajiwara said his company would have to make 250,000 to 300,000 copies of the unclothed 10-inch-high figures to satisfy initial demand which, he said, was “highly unusual” in the doll business.

“His face is quite identical” to the real Gorbachev, Kajiwara said. “The doll even makes sounds, though not in Russian.”

Kajiwara said his company had received inquiries about the doll from more than 10 countries. Avanti plans to sell a larger “Gorby” later.

Along with the dolls, Japanese bookstores and travel agencies are also in the grip of Gorbachev fever. Many bookstores have set up special sections for titles on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

A spokesman for one leading bookseller, Sanseido Bookstore, said: “We set up our East Bloc corner at the best spot in our stores. The books have been selling like hotcakes.”

Gorbachev’s own “Perestroika” is selling heavily despite the fact that the book came out three years ago.

“Books and magazines focusing on Communist countries, their leaders and people in the regions have been selling well,” the spokesman said.

“Compared to five years ago, Japanese taste for books has totally changed. . . . Now so many Japanese are interested in books about the Soviet leader and East Bloc nations,” he added.

Tourism is another business sector to benefit from the Gorbachev effect.

Tours to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union used to be one of the least popular lines for Japanese travel agencies, but travelers’ preferences have changed dramatically.

“It is the first time I have seen such a fever in tours to Eastern Europe in my 25 years in the travel business,” an agency employee said. One Tokyo agency has already sold out 15 tours scheduled for May.

“Many are interested in the Berlin Wall, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and, of course, the Soviet Union,” a travel agency employee said.

“We should say thank you to Gorbachev for expanding our markets. Without his new policy, we could not have grown in the Eastern Europe markets.

“We used to say only a strange type of people visit Moscow, but now we say, if you are not interested in going to Moscow, you’re abnormal.”