By KATSUHISA SAITO/ Staff Writer
April 16, 2022 at 07:00 JST
Lixil Corp.’s Kinuami U system generates cream-like bubbles through a shower on March 19 in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. (Katsuhisa Saito)
Move over bubble baths, there is a new game in town.
For those looking for a more luxurious way to get squeaky clean than just your standard shower, the household equipment manufacturer Lixil Corp. has created a device that turns hot shower water into a fine, frothy foam.
Lixil’s “Kinuami” (silk bathing) U system is expected to hit the market in April, carrying a price tag of 76,780 yen ($630), including tax.
A person taking a shower can change the spray to bubble mode by pressing a button on the handle. It then instantly produces a silky, creamy foam from the showerhead.
“Now that people are prone to stay at home longer amid the novel coronavirus crisis, we believe something to help consumers refresh themselves through bathing would be indispensable,” said Lixil spokesperson Michiko Saito. “The product embodies our group’s concept of ‘making your everyday life happy.’”
Lixil was founded in 2011 by integrating five companies, including Tostem and Inax, and boasts 55,000 employees. It posted 1.38 trillion yen in consolidated sales for the business year ending in March 2021.
The enterprise, based in the Ojima 2-chome district in Tokyo’s Koto Ward, began working on Kinuami after learning about a bubble-forming technology used by firetrucks.
“I felt I could provide a novel bathing experience by combining an advanced technique from a different industry with Lixil Group’s insights into bathrooms,” said Chiaki Hirata, head of the Kinuami project.
Instead of rushing the new product to market, Lixil relied on Makuake, a website to support new products and services, to get a better idea about consumers’ desires to upgrade their showerheads.
When the prototype was released on a limited scale in spring 2019, 100 units sold out on the site within 20 days. The improved, second-generation model raised more than 50 million yen, far exceeding the target of 1 million yen.
“Confirming the need and making improvements via Makuake constituted a new challenge for us,” said Hirata. “We are confident that it resulted in a product that will be more welcomed by customers.”
Especially noteworthy among the added upgrades is the compressor to supply air, which was originally separated from the body of the bubble maker. The component was in the end incorporated into the machine itself.
This change was made after some users complained it was too “troublesome to connect” the compressor with the body when they wanted to use it.
“We faced many challenges, such as making the compressor smaller, waterproofing it and devising a way to supply electricity, but we thought we should not turn our eyes away from the difficulties,” said Takatoshi Kasuga, a Lixil official involved in developing the Kinuami. “We ended up succeeding in embedding it into the body.”
The company said Kinuami is already enjoying a good response from families who have installed the product in their homes.
Nitto Cera Corp., a Lixil subsidiary that jointly developed Kinuami, is responsible for the public sales of the system.
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