By JIRO TSUTSUI/ Staff Writer
July 29, 2020 at 08:00 JST
KUSATSU, Shiga Prefecture--A local company has developed a handy item shaped like the number "6" that can be hooked onto train hand straps so people can avoid touching handles during the pandemic.
Signboard maker Kousen, which has no more than nine employees, designed the product to help people avoid contracting or transmitting the novel coronavirus.
The acrylic item, named "Hook-kun," measures 15 centimeters long, 10 cm wide and 5 millimeters thick. It comes in 23 variations with colorful patterns and illustrations.
Its development started in early April, when an employee said, thinking kindly of his pregnant wife, "I hesitate to grab (train) straps out of fear of becoming infected."
Around that time, a cluster infection was reported at an office in Kusatsu, and the man, a train commuter, saw another passenger holding a strap with a handkerchief between the handle and their hand.
Trying to fashion something out of the acrylic plates normally used as materials to make signs, Yuko Sugimoto, 49, who led the design of Hook-kun, cut out a scrap piece of material in a reverse “J” shape.
An employee who tested the prototype on way home found it difficult to effectively grab the slippery surface of the hook, which resembled an umbrella handle.
The following day, they retooled it into an “S” shape. But the new model also had a disadvantage: the center part could easily break when twisted.
Sugimoto bought a train strap on the Mercari flea market app, and spent one week coming up with the final 6-shape design, with all its edges rounded to improve the strength. Three fingers can fit into the circle part, and its compact size enables the company to send it by standard-size mail.
Sugimoto asked other employees and their families to use the hook and they discovered it can also be used for other things, like pushing elevator buttons.
Using two hooks, one worker discovered they could use it to push a supermarket cart so they did not have to directly touch the cart with their hands.
The test users praised Hook-kun for being "convenient" and "really strong." It was made available for ordinary consumers on the internet in late April. Media reported on the product in May, resulting in a surge in orders and sales of about 1,200 units.
Most of those who bought the hook are people from the Tokyo metropolitan area and Osaka Prefecture, according to Kousen representatives.
The Hook-kun is produced by hand. Manufacturing workers, including Kota Maeno, 34, carefully cut out the hook with electric fretsaws at a constant speed so the material can be processed into a standardized shape and size.
Although the company makes up to 105 hooks a day, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the company to keep up with the growing demand. For that reason, they are employing laser machine cutting more frequently.
"The product is held by users' hands," said Maeno. "As a craftsman, I create it with the same pride as when I am making signboards."
Kousen is considering accepting orders for custom designs and selling Hook-kun as gifts to donors under the "furusato nozei" hometown tax contribution system of Kusatsu city.
Hook-kun is available for 1,200 yen ($11.17), including delivery fee and tax, on the dedicated shopping site at (https://pylon.official.ec/).
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Hook-kun products come in various designs, shown in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, on June 15. (Jiro Tsutsui)
