Artist's commentary
Janome
Because I was told from a certain place about Muppo in her raincoat yesterday, "You used 'Rain is Falling, Rain is Falling', so I was expecting a 'Janome'."
For those who don't get it:
Here and here.
Okay, this is a bit complicated. In the song "Ame-ame Fure-Fure" (which I translate as "Rain Is Falling, Rain Is Falling"), the singer looks forward to the singer's mother greeting him/her with her janome umbrella. Janome—literally, "snake's eye"—refers to a double-ring or bull's-eye type of pattern. The Janome Sewing Machine Company took its name because its machines used round bobbins (vs. the spindle type), which were new at the time and look like a janome. Said company branched out into making things like a bath heating machine, and this strip references two of the commercials for that product.