Samurai, aliens and a lazy hero who loves sweets

In an alternate version of old Japan, aliens have landed, taken over and banned samurai from carrying swords. In the middle of this chaos lives a silver-haired, sweet-toothed, deeply lazy former warrior who runs an odd-jobs business with a nerdy teenager, a ferocious alien girl and a giant dog. He'll do almost any job for rent money, and he still carries a wooden sword. Gintama is one of the funniest anime ever made, mixing samurai action, sci-fi, slapstick and endless parodies, with sudden arcs of real drama that make fans cry. A Gintama-inspired rug brings its chaos into a room: a strawberry milk carton, a carved wooden sword, a giant white dog, a purple parasol, a mayonnaise bottle, an Edo street under spaceships or an odd-jobs sign. Every design is printed into soft velvet and goes in the washing machine.

Gintama-inspired designs

Design	The look	Best in
Strawberry milk	A pink carton with strawberries	Kitchens, teen rooms
Wooden sword	A carved wooden sword with your own words	Dorms, game rooms
Giant white dog	A huge, fluffy white dog lying down	Kids' rooms, living rooms
Purple parasol	An open parasol on a sunny sky	Bedrooms, round rugs
Mayonnaise	A squeezy bottle and a big swirl	Kitchens, dining nooks
Edo with spaceships	Old wooden streets under alien ships	Hallways, home theaters

The series

Gintama is a manga by Hideaki Sorachi that began in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 2003 and ran until 2019. Its anime, made by Sunrise and later Bandai Namco Pictures, aired across many seasons from 2006 to 2018, more than 360 episodes in all, followed by a final film in 2021 and live-action movies. Gintoki Sakata, a former samurai who fought against the alien invasion, now runs the Yorozuya, an odd-jobs agency, with Shinpachi, a sincere young swordsman with glasses, and Kagura, a member of a powerful alien warrior clan. Their jobs pull them into fights with gangsters, space pirates, a police force whose vice-commander is obsessed with mayonnaise and old comrades from the war.

Strawberry milk

The hero has a serious sweet tooth, and strawberry milk is his favorite drink. A rug of a cheerful pink strawberry milk carton, with little strawberries and a bendy straw, is a sweet, funny design for a kitchen or a teen's room, and a cute pastel rug to anyone else. For more, see our strawberry rugs.

The wooden sword

Banned from carrying a real blade, the hero fights with a wooden sword that has the name of a tourist spot carved into it, because he ordered it from a TV shopping channel. A rug of a wooden practice sword with your own words carved into the handle, a hometown, a motto or a joke, is a funny, personal design for a dorm or a game room. Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or cut it to shape with our shaped rugs.

The giant dog

The team's pet is an enormous, fluffy white dog the size of a small car, who loves to chomp on people's heads. A rug of a huge white dog lying down, with a goofy face and a big pink tongue, is a cuddly, funny design for a kid's room or a living room, and dog lovers will adore it. For more, see our dog rugs.

The parasol

The alien girl's clan can't stand the sun, so she always carries a purple parasol, which doubles as a weapon. A round rug of an open purple parasol seen from above, with a sunny sky peeking around the edges, is a pretty, playful design for a bedroom. Our round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across.

Mayonnaise

The vice-commander of the police force is obsessed with mayonnaise and covers every meal in it, a running joke throughout the series. A rug of a squeezy mayonnaise bottle and a big, glossy swirl on a bowl of rice is a ridiculous, hilarious design for a kitchen. In a kitchen, choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², which stays put on tile. For more, see our kitchen rugs.

Edo with spaceships

The series' world is old Edo, wooden houses, paper lanterns and temples, with alien spaceships floating overhead and a giant space terminal towering over the city. A rug of a traditional Edo street at dusk, with spaceships drifting across an orange sky, is a fun, cinematic design for a hallway runner, up to 10 ft long, or a home theater. For more, see our space rugs.

The odd-jobs sign

The team's office sits above a bar, under a big sign advertising that they'll do any job. A rug designed like a retro odd-jobs shop sign with your own family name or business name is a funny, personal design for an entryway or a home office. Just inside the front door, keep it indoors, out of the weather.

Parody and the fourth wall

Gintama is famous for breaking the fourth wall: characters complain about their animators, mock their own ratings and parody other anime, manga and pop culture, sometimes so boldly the jokes get bleeped. That fearless humor made it one of the most beloved comedy series in Japan, with later seasons among the highest-rated anime on fan rating sites.

Laughter and tears

For all the silliness, the series has long, serious story arcs about war, loss, loyalty and protecting the people you love. Fans often say no anime makes them laugh harder or cry harder. A sweet strawberry milk rug is a nod to the funny side; an Edo dusk rug captures the bittersweet one.

Samurai and the sword ban

The real Japan did ban the public carrying of swords, in 1876, during the Meiji era, as the samurai class lost its privileges. Gintama borrows that history and adds aliens, along with lots of real historical figures from the late Edo period, turned into comedy characters.

The team

The odd-jobs crew is a found family: a lazy but loyal leader, a sincere teen who keeps everyone grounded and a fierce alien girl with a huge appetite. For siblings or roommates, a trio of rugs, strawberry milk, a pair of glasses and a purple parasol, is a fun nod to them.

Kids and teens

Gintama has crude humor, violence and adult jokes, so it suits teens and adults. The giant dog, the strawberry milk and the parasol are cute designs for any age.

Bedrooms and dorms

A strawberry milk or wooden sword rug brings humor to a bedroom or a dorm. Choose Standard on hard floors. For a softer bedroom rug, choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m². Our bedroom rugs page has more layouts.

Game rooms

For a game room, a wooden sword or Edo spaceship rug is a fun centerpiece. Under a gaming chair, choose Standard in 3.3×5 or 4×6 ft, which stays put and lets the wheels roll. For more, see our gaming rugs.

Pairing with furniture

These rugs suit relaxed, slightly messy rooms: a low table, a sofa built for naps, a shelf of manga, a few snacks and a bottle of strawberry milk in the fridge.

Colors

Gintama-inspired designs look best in strawberry pink and cream, silvery white and sky blue, with warm wood tones, purple for the parasol and mayonnaise yellow.

Other anime

For more samurai with style, see our Samurai Champloo rugs, and for more comedy, our Sakamoto Days and One-Punch Man rugs and all our anime and manga rugs.

Gifts

A Gintama-inspired rug makes a great gift for an anime fan with a sense of humor. The wooden sword with their own words is the most personal; the mayonnaise bottle is the funniest by far.

Your own design

Want a wooden sword carved with your hometown, an odd-jobs sign for your own business or a giant dog that looks like yours? Our custom rugs can print it. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use; official character art, logos and stills belong to their owners. Custom rugs are made just for you and can't be returned.

Sizes, shipping and returns

Rectangles come in 2×3, 2.6×3.9, 3.3×5, 4×6 and 5×7 ft. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across, and shaped rugs from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm). Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′, including long runners. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Unused rugs can be returned within 30 days on US orders; custom rugs can't be returned.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes, and blot spills, strawberry milk included, with cold water right away. The design is printed into the fibers, so the pink stays sweet, wash after wash.

The Shinsengumi, Katsura and Elizabeth

Gintama borrows heavily from Japanese history and then turns it inside out. Its Shinsengumi, the police force that keeps order in Edo, is a parody of the real Shinsengumi, a special police corps that operated in Kyoto in the 1860s. In the series, its vice commander Hijikata pours mayonnaise on everything, Okita is a sadistic prankster, and Commander Kondo spends his time stalking Gintoki's friend Otae.

On the other side of the law, Katsura, a rebel from the old anti-alien movement, is always on the run with his strange companion Elizabeth, a large white duck-like alien who never speaks and communicates by holding up signs. Takasugi, the darker former comrade, wanders the story in a flowered kimono with a bandaged eye.

Those characters make wonderfully silly rugs. A bottle of mayonnaise with little hearts around it is Hijikata's love, perfect for a kitchen. A white, wide-eyed creature holding a blank sign, ready for any message, is Elizabeth, and it makes a hilarious doormat inside the front door. A Shinsengumi-style jacket pattern in black with a light blue trim brings a bit of samurai history into a fan's bedroom.

Because Gintama mixes parody, action and real emotion, these designs work in rooms that like a joke but aren't only a joke: a dorm, a game room or a teenager's bedroom where friends gather to binge the next arc.

Fans who love Gintama's mix of parody and heart often build rooms full of inside jokes, and these designs fit right in.

A mayonnaise bottle on the kitchen rug is the easiest place to start.

Padrift is an independent studio. Gintama is named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Hideaki Sorachi, Shueisha, Sunrise or Bandai Namco Pictures, and our rugs do not use the characters' likenesses.