How the Sanrio Character Ranking Works

1. What Is the Sanrio Character Ranking?

The Sanrio Character Ranking (サンリオキャラクター大賞, Sanrio Character Taisho) is Sanrio's official, flagship annual competition where fans determine the global popularity ranking of Sanrio characters. First held in 1986 through physical postcard submissions mailed into Sanrio's monthly publication, The Strawberry News (いちご新聞), the contest has evolved over four decades into one of the largest corporate character popularity campaigns in the global entertainment industry.

Each spring, Sanrio opens a dedicated voting window spanning roughly six weeks (typically from early April through late May). The contest invites millions of fans in Japan and worldwide to vote across digital portals, official retail stores, mobile applications, and print publications. The results culminate in late June with a live-streamed awards ceremony held at Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo, accompanied by commemorative product releases, exclusive licensing campaigns, and special retail collections for top-ranking characters.

To explore historical champions from 1986 to the present, see our comprehensive Sanrio Ranking History Analysis and the full chronological table on the Ranking History Archive.

Pompompurin, 2025 and 2026 Character Ranking Champion with over 5.6 million votes.

2. Entrant Selection: 450+ Universe vs. 90 Ballot Entrants

A frequent point of confusion among casual observers is why certain vintage or minor characters are absent from the annual ballot. Over its corporate history dating back to the 1970s, Sanrio has designed and registered more than 450 distinct character properties. However, the main Character Ranking ballot is strictly capped at a curated roster of 90 nominees each year.

Sanrio's ballot composition reflects several deliberate structural choices:

• Evergreen Core Stars: Permanent mainstays that appear on every ballot, including Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Pochacco, and Kuromi.
• Duos and Ensemble Units: Characters originally conceived as pairs or groups are entered as single collective ballot entries. For example, Little Twin Stars (Kiki and Lala) share one combined entry, as do Goropikadon, Cheery Chums, and Bunny and Matty.
• All-Star Boyband Units: The six-member boy group Hapidanbui (Pochacco, Tuxedosam, Keroppi, Badtz-Maru, Hangyodon, and Ahirunopekkle) enter the competition individually as solo characters, while also maintaining joint unit branding throughout the campaign.
• Rotating Vintage and Cult Entries: Older retro characters from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s (such as Button Nose, Seven Silly Dwarfs, Marron Cream, or Minna no Tabo) rotate across years depending on anniversary milestones, fan requests, and promotional campaigns.
• Corporate and Media Collaborations: Commercial partner mascots, corporate co-branded characters, and celebrity crossovers do not compete on the 90-character main ballot; instead, they are entered into the separate Partner Category.

3. Daily Web Voting Rules and Mechanics

The most accessible and widely utilized avenue of the competition is the official multilingual web voting portal. Sanrio provides free, unrestricted digital voting to fans across the world without requiring paid memberships or specialized hardware.

Understanding daily web voting requires knowing three core operational rules:

4. Sanrio+ App Loyalty Points and Ticket Stacking

While basic daily web voting provides a baseline of 1 vote per character per day, the Sanrio+ official customer membership application introduces high-volume vote acceleration through loyalty points and digital voting tickets.

The Sanrio+ ecosystem operates on a points currency known as "Smiles" (スマイル). Members accumulate Smiles throughout the year through several routine actions:

• In-Store Check-ins: Scanning the Sanrio+ member barcode at official Sanrio Gift Gate and department store counters.
• Purchases: Earning Smiles proportionate to retail spending at physical stores and the Sanrio Online Shop.
• App Engagement: Completing daily in-app scratchcards, login bonuses, interactive mini-games, and official survey questionnaires.

During the Character Ranking campaign, Sanrio+ allows users to convert accumulated Smiles into Digital Voting Tickets.

5. Purchase-Based Voting Channels and 3x Multipliers

A cornerstone of the Sanrio Character Ranking is its direct integration with retail merchandise sales. Sanrio rewards physical store visits and merchandise purchases with heavily weighted voting opportunities that significantly impact the final standings.

How In-Store Sanrio Shop Voting Works in Practice:

When shopping in person at Sanrio Gift Gate stores and official boutiques during the campaign:

1. A shopper completes a purchase meeting the minimum threshold of 1,100 yen (tax included).
2. For every 550 yen in the total purchase amount, the register generates one voting opportunity (subject to specific daily transaction caps).
3. The receipt includes a unique QR code. The customer scans this code with their smartphone, which connects to the Sanrio+ system or mobile ballot interface.
4. The customer selects their chosen character. Each vote submitted via this in-store purchase mechanism counts as 3 votes toward that character's official grand total.

6. The Strawberry News Magazine Voting Sheets

The Strawberry News (いちご新聞, Ichigo Shimbun) is the historic birthplace of the Character Ranking. First published in 1975, the monthly magazine continues to provide dedicated print voting sheets in its spring issues (typically the May and June editions).

Readers cut out the official postcard ballot printed inside the magazine, write down their chosen character codes (allowing up to 5 distinct characters per postcard), affix standard domestic postage, and mail it to Sanrio's contest tabulation office. These mail-in ballots are hand-verified and entered into the grand total prior to the final broadcast.

7. International Participation and Global Ballots

Over the past decade, Sanrio has internationalized the Character Ranking, expanding the official voting website with comprehensive multilingual support:

• Supported Languages: English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
• Global Accessibility: Free daily web voting is open to fans worldwide without regional geo-blocking or mandatory domestic phone verification.
• Regional Top 5/10 Rankings: In addition to the worldwide grand total, Sanrio publishes official territory breakdowns showing the most popular characters in specific regions, such as the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and Australia.

Regional Differences: While international fans enjoy full access to daily web ballots, physical in-store 3x purchase receipts and certain Sanrio+ app reward redemptions are primarily centered around Sanrio's brick-and-mortar retail footprint in Japan, Taiwan, and select Asian retail branches.

8. Vote Weighting and System Calibration

Do all votes count the same? The clear answer is no. The Sanrio Character Ranking is structured as an ecosystem where different channels carry distinct numerical values:

This hybrid scoring model ensures that broad casual online appeal (web votes) is balanced against passionate merchandise purchasing and brand loyalty (retail store and Sanrio+ spending).

9. Total Votes vs. Unique Voters: Analyzing 70.6 Million Votes

In the 2026 Sanrio Character Ranking, the grand total reached an astonishing 70,647,379 votes. When evaluating this massive milestone, it is essential to distinguish between total votes cast and unique individual voters.

The contest mechanics actively encourage repeat and multi-point participation:

• 40+ Days of Consecutive Web Voting: A single dedicated fan casting one web vote every day over a 42-day campaign generates 42 votes for their favorite character.
• Multi-Character Voting: A fan supporting three favorite characters daily generates 126 votes across the campaign.
• Sanrio+ Ticket Accumulation: High-tier loyalty members who save Smiles throughout the year can submit hundreds of tickets simultaneously.
• 3x Retail Purchase Multipliers: A 5,500 yen merchandise haul at a Sanrio Gift Gate store generates 10 voting units, translating directly into 30 votes.

Consequently, the 70.6 million vote figure represents total campaign energy, engagement frequency, and retail activation across millions of passionate fans, rather than 70.6 million individual voters.

Cinnamoroll, five-time consecutive winner (2020-2024) and 2026 podium runner-up.

10. Result Stages: Initial Snapshot, Interim, and Final Standings

To maintain suspense and engagement throughout the six-week voting window, Sanrio announces results in three distinct official phases:

Worked Example: The 2026 Ranking Trajectory

The dynamic nature of these three stages was vividly demonstrated during the 2026 contest:

• Initial Snapshot: Cinnamoroll took the early #1 spot on opening-day web momentum, with Pompompurin in #2 and Pochacco in #3.
• Interim Announcement: Pompompurin surged ahead into #1 after strong retail store receipt submissions and Sanrio+ ticket deployments, pushing Cinnamoroll to #2.
• Final Results: Pompompurin maintained his lead to secure 1st Place overall with over 5.6 million votes, Cinnamoroll captured 2nd Place, and Pochacco earned 3rd Place to complete a historic all-dog podium sweep.

For a detailed tactical breakdown of this comeback, read our analysis on Why Pompompurin Won and the head-to-head dynamics in Cinnamoroll vs. Pompompurin.

11. Entry Numbers vs. Final Ranking Placements

When visiting the official Sanrio Character Ranking ballot website, every character profile displays a prominent two-digit entry number (such as No. 01, No. 15, or No. 48).

Common Misconception: Entry numbers are not ranking seeds, historical placements, or current standings. They are strictly administrative catalog numbers used to index characters across the digital website, printed ballot sheets, and store barcode scanning systems. A character assigned Entry No. 01 does not start with any competitive advantage over a character assigned Entry No. 90.

12. Main Ranking, Partner Category, and Special Awards

In addition to the primary 90-character ranking, Sanrio operates several parallel categories and special commendation awards:

1. The Partner Category (パートナー部門)

Established to celebrate commercial collaborations, the Partner Category is a dedicated standalone contest featuring Sanrio characters paired with external corporate mascots, regional Japanese prefecture ambassadors, popular anime and video game franchises, sports teams, and celebrity collaborations. Partner Category votes are tracked separately from the main 90-character ranking.

2. Special Commendation Awards

• Anniversary / Milestone Special Awards: Sanrio frequently introduces commemorative awards (such as the 40th or 41st Special Award) celebrating characters achieving unique historical milestones.
• Nakayoshi Yell Award (なかよしエール賞): Recognizes characters who generated outstanding positive engagement and spirited support dynamics across official digital campaigns.
• Jump-Up Buddy Award: Honors the character demonstrating the largest upward leap in ranking positions compared to their previous year's finish.

Pochacco, perennial Top 3 podium finisher and five-time consecutive champion (1991-1995).

13. What the Ranking Measures (and What It Does Not)

To properly interpret the Sanrio Character Ranking results, it is important to recognize what the competition represents and what falls outside its scope:

This dynamic explains why iconic global cultural ambassadors like Hello Kitty or Kuromi might finish in 4th or 5th place in the annual fan poll while continuing to generate massive worldwide licensing revenue: hardcore domestic character fandoms (such as those of Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, and Pochacco) mobilize with exceptional daily voting discipline during the competition period.

14. Frequently Asked Questions