An early
Sanrio character, introduced in
1975The Strawberry King is an interesting character in the Sanrio panopoly, as he acts as the alter ego of Sanrio's founder and CEO Shintaro Tsuji. Indeed, in the guise of The Strawberry King, Tsuji-san writes the regular editorial in Sanrio's official news-magazine, The Strawberry News (Ichigo Shimbun).
The character itself is a fat red strawberry, crowned in gold, and is said to rule over a peaceful happy country. He devotes his time to thinking about how to nurture friendship and peace in the world, and often is called on to give expert advice on these matters to other people of the land. The Strawberry King has seven assistants, all of whom are angels.
The Strawberry King's (and therefore Tsuji-san's) birthday is December 7th.