Kokoro

What Kokoro does

Kokoro Co., Ltd. (株式会社ココロ) is a Japanese animatronics company founded in 1984 and headquartered in Hamura City, Tokyo. Operating as a member of the Sanrio Group, the company designs, manufactures, and deploys custom animatronic robots, dinosaur figures, and humanoid robots for museums, theme parks, and entertainment venues worldwide. Its core technology is a proprietary pneumatic Air Servo System that enables smooth, realistic movement in animatronic figures, complemented by specialized rubber skin technology and the Actroid humanoid robot platform developed in collaboration with Osaka University and AIST.

The company generates revenue through four primary streams: (1) one-time custom animatronic manufacturing for museums and theme parks, (2) subscription-based robot rental services for exhibitions and events, (3) sales of Charaphy popcorn vending machines featuring Sanrio character IP, with 1,300+ machines deployed across Japan, and (4) ongoing maintenance and support services for installed systems. Go-to-market is predominantly direct enterprise sales supplemented by international exhibition partners, with reference customers including the Natural History Museum London, American Museum of Natural History, and Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, alongside 400+ cumulative international projects across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Kokoro serves four primary customer segments: museums and cultural institutions, theme parks and amusement venues, event and exhibition companies (via the rental model), and research institutions and universities. Its competitive position rests on long accumulated engineering expertise, exclusive Sanrio character licensing, and a vertical integration model spanning design through manufacturing and maintenance.

Name

Kokoro

Legal name

株式会社ココロ

Website

https://kokoro-dreams.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kokoro Co., Ltd. (株式会社ココロ) is a Tokyo-based Sanrio Group company that designs, manufactures, and rents animatronic robots, dinosaur figures, and humanoid robots for museums, theme parks, and event companies worldwide. It also sells 1,300+ Sanrio-themed popcorn vending machines across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Animatronic Robotics

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (333310), Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (33993)

SIC

Electronic Components & Accessories (3670)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial Robots (Articulated, SCARA, Delta, Cartesian) (IMAHAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK), Scenic Fabrication & Set/Stage Carpentry (MPAGAKAG)

Keywords

• Animatronic robot manufacturing
• Humanoid robotics
• Dinosaur robots
• Robot rental services
• Character vending machines

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Animatronic Robot Manufacturing: Design and manufacture of bespoke animatronic robots for museums, theme parks, and special exhibitions. One-time project-based revenue with pricing varying by complexity, size, and customization requirements. Includes installation and ongoing maintenance contracts.
2. Robot Rental Services: Monthly subscription model providing access to a fleet of animatronic robots for exhibitions and events. Customers pay recurring fees to deploy multiple robots over a contracted period, enabling broader robot utilization and steady recurring revenue.
3. Charaphy Popcorn Machines: Sale of character-themed popcorn vending machines featuring Sanrio licensed characters. Unit-based sales to retail and entertainment venues, with over 1,300 machines deployed across Japan.
4. Maintenance and Support Services: Ongoing technical support, parts replacement, and maintenance services for installed animatronic systems, providing recurring service revenue from existing installations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Kokoro Co., Ltd. designs and manufactures custom animatronic robots — including dinosaur figures, humanoid robots (Actroid), animal and character robots — for museums, theme parks, exhibitions, and research institutions. Beyond custom builds, the company operates a subscription-based rental program supplying animatronics for events and exhibitions, and sells Charaphy popcorn vending machines featuring Sanrio-licensed characters across Japan. Ongoing maintenance and technical support services are provided for installed animatronic systems.

Product overview

Kokoro's primary offering is Kokoro 82M, a compact 82-million-parameter text-to-speech model designed for local deployment. This AI-powered speech synthesis model runs entirely on-device without cloud dependencies, offering advantages in latency, privacy, and infrastructure cost compared to cloud-based alternatives. The model supports 8 languages and 54 voices, operating efficiently on standard CPUs including Apple Silicon. It is released under the Apache 2.0 open-source license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• アクトロイド (Actroid): High-realism humanoid robot series featuring smooth movements and lifelike appearance
• 動刻 (Dōkoku)
• ロボットのサブスク
• アクトロイド-DER

Products and services

• Custom Animatronic Robot Manufacturing Bespoke design and manufacture of animatronic robots — including dinosaur robots, humanoid robots (Actroid series), animal/living-creature robots, character robots, robot theaters, dioramas, and reception/guide robots — sold to museums, theme parks, exhibitions, and institutional clients. Each project is custom-engineered to specification with installation and ongoing maintenance available.
• Robot Rental Subscription Service Subscription-based rental of animatronic robots — including dinosaur, insect, Actroid/DER humanoid, and other series — for exhibitions, corporate events, trade shows, and promotional activities. Customers pay monthly fees to access multiple animatronics over contracted periods (typically one year), with item changes permitted under the program.
• Charaphy Popcorn Vending Machines (Sanrio Characters Unipatchin) Character-themed popcorn vending machines featuring Sanrio-licensed characters (including Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll) sold directly to retail and entertainment venues across Japan. Unit-based hardware sales with supporting popcorn consumables and ongoing support/maintenance.
• Maintenance and Technical Support Services Ongoing technical support, parts replacement, and maintenance services for installed Charaphy popcorn vending machines and animatronic robot installations, providing recurring service revenue from the installed base.

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Sanrio Co., Ltd.coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerSanrio Group membership enables Kokoro to license popular character intellectual property (including Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters) for use in animatronic products and the Charaphy popcorn machine line. This partnership provides exclusive access to character licensing that differentiates Kokoro's consumer-facing products.
• Osaka UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration on humanoid robotics development, including the Actroid robot platform. The partnership contributes to advanced robotics research and provides access to academic expertise.
• AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with Japan's national research institute on robotics technology development. Contributes to advancing animatronic and humanoid robot capabilities.
• Natural History Museum, LondonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlagship installation of animatronic dinosaur and prehistoric creature exhibits. This high-profile reference customer demonstrates Kokoro's capabilities to the international museum industry.
• Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur MuseumflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLarge-scale animatronic dinosaur installation at one of Japan's premier dinosaur museums. Serves as a key reference installation demonstrating Kokoro's expertise in dinosaur robotics.
• Taisei CorporationminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCollaboration with major Japanese general contractor on exhibition design and construction projects. Taisei handles facility construction while Kokoro provides animatronic exhibits.
• Itooki Co., Ltd.minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnership with exhibition planning company for museum and event installations. Itooki provides exhibition design coordination while Kokoro supplies animatronic products.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Schanz Animatronics: German-based animatronics manufacturer producing lifelike figures and creatures for museums, exhibitions, and themed entertainment across Europe. Competes with Kokoro in the European museum and exhibition market.
• Sally Corporation: American animatronics and dark ride manufacturer serving theme parks and family entertainment centers. Closely comparable to Kokoro in producing custom animatronic installations and integrated ride systems for the same end customers.
• Hanson Robotics: Hong Kong/US-based developer of realistic humanoid robots (Sophia, Little Sophia) for research, education, and service applications. Comparable to Kokoro's Actroid platform in targeting lifelike humanoid robotics for institutional and event use cases.
• Garner Holt Productions: US-based manufacturer of animatronic figures for theme parks, museums, and entertainment venues. Direct competitor in the bespoke animatronics space with a comparable focus on lifelike creatures, dinosaurs, and character figures for institutional buyers.
• Engineered Arts: UK-based humanoid robot manufacturer (Ameca, Mesmer) producing highly realistic humanoid robots for exhibitions, research, and customer-facing deployments. Closely comparable to Kokoro's Actroid humanoid business in terms of technology positioning and customer base.

Others

• Sanrio Co., Ltd. Parent conglomerate of Kokoro and owner of the character IP (Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, etc.) that Kokoro licenses for its Charaphy popcorn machines and character animatronics. Relevant as the enabling IP licensor rather than a direct competitor.
• AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology): Japanese national research institute and existing Kokoro R&D partner (HRP-4C development). Functions as an enabling ecosystem participant rather than a competitor, but its humanoid robotics programs (HRP series) help define the technology landscape in which Kokoro's Actroid competes.

Broad incumbents

• Universal Creative (Universal Destinations & Experiences): In-house design and fabrication arm of Universal's theme parks, producing animatronics for major rides and attractions. Operates as a vertically integrated captive supplier rather than a commercial vendor, but competes for talent and sets benchmarks for animatronic quality in the theme park segment.
• Disney Research / Walt Disney Imagineering: Captive R&D and fabrication organization for Disney's theme parks and IP. While not a commercial vendor, it defines state-of-the-art animatronics (Audio-Animatronics) and shapes customer expectations for premium installations, directly influencing competitive dynamics for suppliers like Kokoro.
• SoftBank Robotics: Major commercial humanoid/service robot company (Pepper, NAO) owned by SoftBank Group. A broader incumbent in humanoid and service robotics with overlapping Actroid-like reception and customer-service use cases, though operating at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kokoro_dreams
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kokoro-company-ltd-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kokoro