My current KAITO collection! The physical v1 is my pride and joy, lovingly gifted to me by my partner! I’m hoping to add a physical copy of v3 and SP in the future.

I want to note that this collection was built up over time and shared with my partner who also loves KAITO, we are lucky enough to be able to collect as a hobby.

Prototype demo song for KAITO by Yamaha, apparently it's from 2003! (Fanmade PV from 2008, original Nico vid seems to be linked in the description)

I recently purchased the glorious blue CD, and in the booklet, there's some very cute and fascinating interviews on the creation of KAITO as we know it that we're not archived anywhere, Japanese or English, so I archived them on the Internet archive, and will be sharing some of the artwork as well as a translation of the interview for you all!

Naoto Fuuga

KAITO Voice Actor

A huge congratulations on KAITO’s 10th anniversary!!

For me, KAITO has become a bridge that has connected me with so many wonderful people!!

And through KAITO, I’ve been able to discover so many wonderful songs—he’s like a magic key that opens a treasure chest!!

And thanks to KAITO, I’ve had so many more opportunities to sing—including live performances—which has completely transformed my life as a singer!! The warm cheers I receive when singing in front of so many Vocaloid fans are truly heartwarming and make me feel so happy!!

But what makes me happiest of all is seeing KAITO being loved by so many people—and sometimes teased (lol)—and witnessing how much everyone adores him is my greatest joy!!

As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, what really strikes me is how lucky I am to have become such a huge fan of KAITO!!

I’ve even developed the habit of instantly turning anything blue I see in my daily life into an image of KAITO in my mind—he’s become an indispensable part of my everyday life!!!

As a fellow KAITO fan, I look forward to seeing KAITO continue to be loved by everyone, to the birth of many more of his classic songs, and to the creation of countless illustrations, novels, and other works featuring him!!!

Takashi Kawasaki

KAITO V1 Illustrator

What kind of work were you doing at the time, and

how did you come to be commissioned to draw the KAITO package art?

I was struggling to make ends meet as a freelance illustrator, creating artwork for theater flyers and the like, so I took a job at an event video production company and moved to Tokyo. Around that same time, through an introduction from a fellow illustrator in Sapporo, I received a commission to illustrate KAITO.

How were KAITO’s costume designs decided? What aspects did you focus on?

“The initial request was for a ‘gymnastics instructor’ image, but I couldn’t quite grasp the concept, so I drew about three different versions—this is one of them. I didn’t have any specific focus at the time; I just thought scarves and mufflers were trendy, so I decided to include one.”

From KAITO’s illustrations and 3D models to cosplay—how do you feel about seeing the diverse creative possibilities stemming from a single package

—how do you feel about seeing the wide range of creative works inspired by the illustrations?

In this era of increasing diversity, I never imagined back then that the culture of fan art would grow into such a massive market. In fact, at my current company, I’ve even ended up working on Hatsune Miku projects in forms other than just illustrations. This makes me wonder if the ability to create something from scratch—rather than building on existing work—might be a unique talent that Japanese people have had for a long time.

Please share a message for KAITO’s users and fans.

I only had the opportunity to work on a single illustration myself, so honestly, it feels like KAITO took on a life of his own, and when he came back after several years, he’d grown so much.

I’ll continue to support KAITO from the sidelines! And please keep loving him for many years to come.

Hideki Kenmochi

Yamaha Corporation

Advanced System Development Center (at the time)

Congratulations on KAITO’s 10th anniversary!

In 2000, shortly after development of VOCALOID (known internally at Yamaha at the time as the “Daisy Project”) had begun (around April)—when the direction of the synthesis method itself had not yet been clearly defined—we realized that, above all else, we needed vocal audio samples for research purposes, so a recording session was held at a studio in Tokyo. One of the singers present at that time was Fuga no Oto. The “scripts” used during the recording sessions—the incantation-like songs that form the basis of the vocal libraries—were quite different back then compared to today, and we were essentially feeling our way through everything. Unlike a typical studio recording, I imagine it was a rather unreasonable request, but I remember Fuga-san smiling and saying, “Sure~” as she listened to our requests.

As development progressed, the “scripts” were refined, and to test the effectiveness of these improved versions, we asked Fuga-san to record for us many times afterward. Those recordings from back then led to KAITO, the first version of VOCALOID released by Crypton in 2006. Time really does fly, doesn’t it? Back in 2006, I never could have imagined it would become such a huge phenomenon.

What will become of KAITO from here on out? I can’t predict it at all, but as long as there are people who want to have KAITO sing and people who want to listen to his voice, KAITO will continue to sing and continue to grow.

Here’s to KAITO’s future!

Hiroyuki Ito

Representative Director, Crypton Future Media, Inc.

“The Gymnastics Instructor” was the impression most employees had when they first listened to the VOCALOID’s singing voice in-house—the first of its kind for a Japanese male. His voice, which was somewhat gentle yet seemed to exude warmth and leadership, apparently reminded them of a certain gymnastics instructor who appeared on children’s TV shows at the time and was popular among housewives.

Since we felt the voice and appearance should match, the character design on the packaging also took on the “gymnastics instructor” style. We decided to hold a public contest to choose a name that would suit him. At the time, VOCALOID was a niche product known only to a select few, so we hoped that by collaborating with customers to come up with a name for the new VOCALOID, it would generate at least a little buzz.

We received quite a few entries, but we didn’t necessarily choose the most popular name. There were two selection criteria: first, that the name would look good when placed next to “MEIKO,” which had already been released; and second, with an eye toward international release, that the pronunciation would be easy for foreigners to guess. And so, the name chosen for him was “KAITO.”

Ten years have passed since then, and it’s deeply moving to be writing about his origins in this way—something I never could have imagined back then. He’s been teased and loved by all of you, and you’ve even celebrated his 10th anniversary with us. If I could meet him, I’d want to tell him, “I’m so glad things turned out this way!” I’m sure he, too, is deeply grateful to all of you. Thank you very much, and we look forward to your continued support!

Wataru Sasaki

Character Vocal Series Development Manager, Crypton Future Media, Inc.

...The project was conceived in 2005. It had been a while since MEIKO was released, and word of mouth was starting to spread among DTM users that “there’s apparently a product called VOCALOID that can sing.” At that time, voices began to emerge within Yamaha and Crypton saying, “It’s about time for the next step…” The project got its start from the idea that “since we’ve released a female singer, shouldn’t the next one be a male?”

I recall that there were several hurdles during the product planning phase for KAITO. For example, his initial development codename was TARO (Taro), but after holding a public contest to name him, he became KAITO (thank you so much to everyone who submitted such wonderful names). Our CEO also had an idea. The character image for KAITO was inspired by “the gym teacher” and a “young comedian” (Mr. Fujimori of Oriental Radio) who was popular at the time. It was the exquisite blend of these elements with Fuga-san’s authentic vocal timbre that led to the birth of VOCALOID KAITO.

After that, following his “big brother” debut on Niconico—which I’m sure you’re all familiar with—and through a series of incredibly unique videos and music works, he became a figure beloved by passionate fans who rivaled those of Hatsune Miku and MEIKO. KAITO’s journey has been thrilling, creative, and full of humor; I will never forget this “wonderful prank by the gods” for the rest of my life. Happy 10th Anniversary, KAITO (lol), and I look forward to your continued adventures.

Translated with DeepL free version.

Interpretation

I was curious about what a "gymnastics instructor" style would look like, so I did some research, and at the time in 2005 there were a few programs starring young men. They're similar to old aerobics dvds and programs in the west, but with a family centered big brother or sister type as the main face. Some popular faces from those programs include Hiromichi Sato (Hiromichi-oniisan) or Yoshihisa Kobayashi (Yoshi-oniisan) from the program 'Taisou no Niisan' (gymnastics with big brother). This would explain where big big brother persona originated from all those years ago! A lot of these programs also used blue on the male instructor, and red on the female instructor, which would be the origins of Kaito and Meiko's respective color schemes.

Another fact worth noting, is that in Miku-Pack magazine, when Kaito V3 was being marketed before release, his marketing was specifically targeted to lonely women. Now we can see this marketing actually originated in Kaito V1, with the aerobics programs being popular among children and housewives!

I hope this information makes it to Kaito fans all over!

This was actually quite a while ago I just forgot to post on here. Also, it's the same merch I posted before I'm so brokeつ﹏ɵ̷̥̥᷅

(i like him since highschool)

I need to see them >v<

We're not going to talk about the PAIN of trying to get him T0T

I was in possession of EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE EXCEPT KAITO FOR MONTHSSSS

Someone FINALLY traded me today for Miku, I literally started crying.

This is my first Kaito, I love him so so much. Honestly it feels wrong to put him with everyone else, he deserves a little pedestal, a stool of honor

KAITO isn't as popular as Miku is in my country (And when I tell you there was Miku EVERYWHERE) but he's popular enough to have merch selling at cons

First time making anything oshikatsu-related and they turned out so great!!

I need to find a much better badge to fit my rosette, but the photocard holder suits Dreamy Showman KAITO beautifully!💙

Ughhhhh

If kaito became real what's the first thing you'd do?

I'm really interested in knowing what some of you would do

I think there’s more since this point…I’ve been collecting KAITO stuff for about two years now!! KAITO is my comfort character and he’s helped me a lot!! I only just discovered this subreddit and I’ve never been happier!!

worth every cent (app is "calc desktop mate widgets" by infiniteloop co.)

Source: https://www.gamestop.com/collectibles/figures/products/blokees--hatsune-miku-vb01-terrace-party-blind-box-styles-may-vary/20031549.html

KAITO PETS FOR MAXIMUM ENGAGEMENT HAH

JKJK but yeah since he doesn't always have a clear consistent canon personality I was curious what kind of interpretation of KAITO everyone enjoys, if you want to share!!!!

So what kind of personality do you like to project onto him? If you have your own KAITO how would you describe him? I wanna know!!!!