First impressions of this ASIKA needle tin are usually that it's 'kawai', which means cute in Japanese. It's cartoonish and happy design has an almost Disney like appearance about it. As is the case with so many brands, the reasons why it came to be will never be truly known. Despite the cheerful appearance shown here, the true story of Asika is a very sad one. Asika (or Ashika in Japanese) means "Sea Lion". Prior to 2003 the Ashika were considered to be a subspecies of t