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Japanese bubble-wrap manufacturer Kawakami Sangyo Co., Ltd's heart-shaped bubble wrap sheets are seen in Tokyo Nov. 12, 2007. (China Daily/Agencies)
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BEIJING, Nov. 20 -- Stress relief, diet aid, lucky charm: few can
resist the allure of bubble wrap and now a Japanese company is finding new
reasons to pop till you drop.
In Japan, the plastic packaging material is best known by a local brand-name Puti Puti, pronounced "poochy-poochy," and Kawakami
Sangyo Co, its biggest manufacturer, has set up the Puti Puti Culture Laboratory dedicated
to finding unusual uses for it.
"I'm not an expert in psychology, but it is said that if people see a chair, they want to sit in it. If they see a button on an intercom, they want to push it," said Ayaka Sugiyama, the head of the laboratory whose hobbies include singing in a five-person band called "Puti Metal."
"It's the same with Puti Puti. The bubbles stick out, so you want to squash them."
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Japanese bubble-wrap manufacturer Kawakami Sangyo Co., Ltd's bubble wrap sheets are seen in Tokyo Nov. 12, 2007. (China Daily/Agencies) |
Hoping to tap into Puti Puti's appeal, Sugiyama started jotting down notes on
unusual uses of the packaging material about seven years ago and the ideas were
compiled in a "Puti Puti Official Book" published last year.
Among the suggestions are injecting the bubbles with colored ink to create
mosaic-like artwork, sitting on the sheets at picnics, sewing them into in a
wedding dress and -- this from an 85-year-old woman -- popping bubbles to help
prevent senility.
Sugiyama, a slender 30-year-old, says she sometimes pops Puti Puti bubbles
while watching TV as a way to keep her hands busy and refrain from munching junk
food.
Kawakami Sangyo, whose main customers for Puti Puti are manufacturers, is
creating products aimed at retail consumers.
"Pucchin Sukatto," a box of small bubble wrap sheets developed solely for
popping, went on sale at convenience stores for 198 yen ($1.78) in October and a
"Puti Puti Calendar" comes with a square bubble on each day of the month.
"For those who think one Puti Puti per day is not enough, there are extras at the end of each month," Sugiyama said.
(Source: China Daily/Agencies)
