A day for a convenient cleaning product that was born in Tokyo

Today, and May 6th annually, is Korokoro (Adhesive Carpet Cleaner) Day コロコロの日 in Japan. Korokoro is the name of the genius cleaning product that is officially called the "adhesive carpet cleaner" in English. It is the roller, pictured, that takes up lint and dirt when rolled on carpet. I am not at all surprised to learn today that it was first created in Japan.

Reportedly it was inspired by a female employee of Nittoms, a Tokyo based company, who noticed how well adhesive tape removed lint from clothing. It first came out in 1983 as the "adhesive carpet cleaner", but two years later it was officially renamed "Korokoro" based on customers comments. The name "korokoro" is now a registered trademark of Nittoms.

The reason May 6th is "Korokoro Day" is because 5/6 can be read as "ko (5) 6 (ro)". A bit of "goroawase" Japanese play on how numbers can be read. Today, it is widely recognised as a quick tool for effortless cleaning. The "korokoro" pictured in this post was purchased for just 100 yen at a 100-yen store and it last weeks. So, it's an affordable cleaning tool too.