Nintendo Cracks Down on Bikini Chef Kawasaki Designs in Kirby Air Riders Marketplace

Nintendo has begun removing certain player-made Kirby Air Riders machine designs after several community creations depicted Chef Kawasaki wearing a bikini.

Kirby Air Riders' bikini-themed Chef Kawasaki | Image: Nintendo

In Japan, Chef Kawasaki, who typically wears just a cooking apron, has been part of an ongoing meme for years, stemming from 2020 fan art that showed him in a tiny bikini. So once players noticed that the new My Machines mode allowed scaling, rotating, and layering stickers, the meme took on a life of its own inside the game.

My Machines lets players design custom machines using collected decals and visual pieces, and then upload them to the Machine Market (the game's marketplace). These designs can be purchased with in-game coins earned from racing. Each purchase slightly increases the design’s price, which means viral creations can skyrocket in value within hours.

And that’s exactly what happened. As spotted by Automaton, the first major breakout design was a Warp Star turned into Chef Kawasaki wearing a micro bikini. According to posts from Japanese players, the price for this design was climbing fast because many believed Nintendo would pull it down quickly. Their prediction was right. Within roughly six hours, the design disappeared from the marketplace.

Of course, removing something on the internet usually makes it even more famous. So another player uploaded their own take: a slightly less revealing “succubus-style” Kawasaki wearing a thicker bikini, wings, and a tail. This one didn’t just gain traction; it became the most expensive design on the entire Machine Market. Players were rushing to buy it out of fear it would also be deleted, driving the price even higher.

But the cycle didn’t stop there. VGC later confirmed that Nintendo also removed the second design. Not long after, a third creation emerged, this time featuring Kawasaki in a bikini while proudly holding two cooking pots, and that version began climbing the rankings as well. It’s almost become a running joke in the community: remove one Kawasaki, and two more rise to take its place.

Interestingly, Nintendo’s moderation appears to target only the bikini Kawasaki designs. Other fan-made machines referencing Pokémon, Splatoon, EarthBound, or even more harmless memes remain untouched. This suggests the issue isn’t the use of Nintendo IP but the specific depiction of Chef Kawasaki in suggestive outfits.