Japanese with anime voice: episode52
Hello, I’m Sachi.
Do you know what a kendama is? It is a wooden toy with a large red ball connected to the body by a string, and the body has places on both sides and a handle where the ball can be placed, with a pointed tip. I hope this explanation makes sense. The kendama was invented and registered as a utility model on 14 May 1919. I tried to sound like I know what I’m talking about, but I have no idea what a utility model registration is. I looked it up, and it seems that it protects an idea about the shape, structure or combination of things. When you invent something, you get a patent, right? A patent protects inventions, but a utility model registration seems to be a lighter form of protection than a patent. I usually hear the word patent, but this is the first time I have heard of a utility model registration. I had no idea about that, but for a while it was fashionable in Japan to get a patent. It may be strange to call it a fad. I think there were a few things invented by housewives that were patented.
In fact, I have also thought of something that could be patented. In Japanese schools, there is a social studies field trip where everyone gets on a bus and goes to visit museums and public facilities. There are different ways of saying this, but I think the content is the same. In other words, we learn about various things outside of school. When I was in the fifth or sixth year of primary school, we went on a social studies field trip to Toyota. Yes, the company that manufactures those cars. I remember that we went on a field trip to Toyota, but I don’t remember anything about the trip or what we saw. After that visit to Toyota, we had a test at school. On the back of the test was a question asking what kind of car you would make if you were to build one. The questionnaire asked me to draw a picture of what I imagined. So I thought of a car in which a seat would pop out of the car and the seat would carry my grandmother, who has a weak leg and back. I drew a picture of it. At the time, I thought it was a good idea. I don’t remember how long it was after that, but one day I was watching TV and saw a commercial where a seat jumped out of a car and carried an elderly person. The elderly person in the commercial was also a woman. I don’t remember if the commercial was for Toyota or not. But I thought my idea had been stolen. I was so proud of myself that I didn’t think that Toyota, the world’s leading car manufacturer, would steal an idea from a schoolchild. You didn’t know at the time whether it was really a Toyota commercial or not. There must be other companies that manufacture cars besides Toyota, like Honda, Nissan and Suzuki.
The only memory that I can still remember is that there was such a car, but when I look it up now, I can’t find any evidence that there was such a car. My memory must have been twisted somewhere. Was it a dream? Was it an illusion?
Whether my idea can be called an invention or not, children are flexible in their thinking and free in their ideas. If I were asked to think of an idea like this now, I wouldn’t come up with it straight away. I think people who work in product planning are really amazing. Even with sweets, I never thought of putting something salty and something sweet together, like crisps and chocolate, until the product was introduced. But it’s delicious, isn’t it?
Speaking of which, my partner and I have recently become addicted to a drink called Horoyoi. It comes in a wide range of flavours. One of them was a flavour called jasmine lychee. I thought it sounded good, but when I drank it, I could taste both jasmine and lychee in my mouth at the same time. Both tastes were very assertive and not very tasty. Well, such things happen, don’t they?
I think it is amazing that all the products in the world are constantly evolving and becoming easier to use. Therefore, what people in product planning think about can now be called invention. I think we should appreciate their work more. Bath and toilet systems have evolved tremendously in recent years. In the past, people used firewood to boil water for baths. Nowadays, the faucets can automatically fill the bathtub with hot water at a set temperature. In addition, the bathtub drain can be plugged automatically. As for the water bottle, all the silicone parts can now be removed and washed. This is really great. Why do some products never seem to evolve? For example, refilling shampoo and conditioner. The refill port is too small and the contents come out very slowly. It takes a long time to refill and I hate it. Although I can now cut the refill slot by hand without using scissors. But the other day, when I tried to refill the laundry detergent, I was able to cut the refill opening by hand, but I couldn’t cut it off and stopped when I was almost there. I pulled hard to figure out why it stopped there, but I still couldn’t cut it off. That was really frustrating. I’m looking for an evolution of the refill as soon as possible.
