1980's

An Innovative Slim, Compact Design That Businessmen Appreciated

Measuring just some 2cm in thickness, this palm-sized hair dryer was designed for business travelers. The grip was discarded for greater portability, and users held the product body itself while drying their hair. This nifty little product may not look like a hair dryer at first glance, but the design is actually extremely logical. The motor and fan are located under the round section of the cover, the heater is placed up front (near the brand logo), and the switch components and other controls are arranged in the remaining space. The electric cord is wrapped around the dryer body and secured in place. A switch-locking mechanism at the base where the cord is attached prevents hot air from being blown while the cord is in this secured position.
With its slim, flat shape, the hair dryer slips effortlessly into the pocket of a suitcase or briefcase. It became a popular product among businessmen, who took a liking to its unique, geometrical styling.

Combining Paper Vacuum Bag Convenience with Easy Storage and Cleaning

This machine to employ a vacuum bag made of paper redirected the mainstream in Japanese vacuum cleaner styles.
Vacuum cleaners used to suck in dust and dirt and collect them in a cloth bag in the vacuum cavity. Not only did the user's hands get dirty when emptying the bag, but it was nearly impossible to keep dust from flying into the air. The MC-250C solved these problems by employing a method in which dust and dirt were discarded along with the paper bag. The compact, box-like shape resulting from the shape the paper bag assumed when full served as a high-profile advertisement of the arrival of the paper bag vacuum cleaning era at a time when circular models still dominated the market.
The rollers, which extend slightly outward, were attached at the back, and the entire unit stood upright easily when the front handle was lifted, facilitating both storage and staircase cleaning. Among the many carefully considered details, a soft plastic cushioning material was attached to the back surface to prevent the machine from scratching the floor when placed in the upright position.
In the wake of the MC-250C's launch, the paper bag-type vacuum cleaner became the new standard for vacuum cleaners in Japan.

“This Is the Microwave Oven” — The Search for an Appliance's True Nature

At a time when the use of microcomputers in consumer electronics products was advancing at a rapid pace making functions increasingly complex, this microwave oven realized ease-of-use through the conscious adoption of simple mechanical processes.
The microwave (strong, weak), grill heater and oven were controlled by just four buttons located at the top right and the timer, heater top/bottom switch, and oven temperature by three dials placed below them, a configuration that made operation easy to understand for housewives who were not familiar with microcomputer controls.
The tops of the four control buttons were slanted, making it easy to determine from the shadow when a button was depressed. The flat door comprising a simple frame around a large glass pane was both refined looking and easy to clean. Red lines accenting the two-tone white-and-black coloring evoked a sophisticated modernity.
This NE-M600 was designed based on the design theme, “This is the microwave oven,” in pursuit of the essence of this convenient kitchen appliance. Its astute combination of an innovative, user-friendly image and affordable price soon made it a runaway hit product.

A TV Is Essentially a Cathode-Ray Tube

With the growing popularity of video decks and rental videos in the 1980s, the role of the television expanded from that of a machine for viewing TV programs to a piece of equipment for “enjoying screen images.”
Intent on grasping the true nature of the next-generation television, our designers placed a cathode-ray tube on the floor and tried to “return to the television's roots.” They soon realized that, at its most basic, a television is “a tube that projects images.”
Little more than an oversized tube with the bare minimum of packaging, the Alpha Tube stated this concept with its very form. The screen was angled upward 10 degrees, encouraging viewers to watch TV with it placed on the floor and reminding Japanese consumers of the traditional floor-oriented lifestyle to which they had long been accustomed.
By returning to the basics, this innovative television led the way to an era of large-screen video viewing.

A New Japanese Standard with a Minimalist Design Suited to the Walls of Japanese Homes

The first full-color wiring accessory series released in 1971 had a dual structure comprising a faceplate and modules on the outside and device modules on the inside. The size of each module was standardized, and these specifications eventually became JIS specifications that are still widely applied today.
Introduced at a time when interior decoration was diversifying quickly, the early full-color wiring accessory series employed widely varied designs, but this full-color modern faceplate series launched in 1986 reversed this trend. The design was simplified as much as possible, enabling the products to match virtually any interior design. The outer faceplate module nearly merged with the wall, from which it was raised only slightly. Using various combinations of device modules and faceplate modules made it possible to meet a wide range of needs, moreover, including needs involving size, function and number of switches and outlets.
From the time of its release, use of this new faceplate series became progressively widespread, and it eventually became a standard wiring accessory throughout Japan.

A Bath That Brought Hot Spring Relaxation into the Private Home

The “living bath” provided a relaxing atmosphere reminiscent of a hot spring spa.
The circulating hot water fell from a spout like hot water gushing from a waterfall at a hot spring resort. The tub was large enough for an adult bather to extend his or her arms and legs, and bubbles from underwater jets added a Jacuzzi effect. The flange (top rim) was constructed of synthetic grained marble with a beautiful flowing pattern that contributed further to the bath's dignified, natural aesthetics. The flange was extra wide like the flange of a hot spring bath, providing a comfortable place for bathers to sit and soak their feet.
The apron (vertical front panel) found on conventional bathtubs was intentionally omitted from the design of the Kiyotaki Jet 1500 to permit greater flexibility in terms of height and location when installing it in a bathroom. This considerate omission was made to give homeowners and interior designers ample leeway to design a variety of bathrooms incorporating this product that reproduced the ambiance of a hot spring bath.

The Heater That Avoided the Appliance Look

This electric heater employed two heating methods: silent, natural convection heating, which released a gentle flow from the top of the heater; and hot-blast heating, which blew a strong stream of hot air out from the bottom to heat rooms faster.
The design team chose a geometric form for the Maroyaka (“mellow”) Heater, based on the assumption that it would be used in bedrooms, children's rooms and other restful environments, and developed styling that neither called too much attention to itself nor receded into the surrounding home interior. Its slim, upright body fit easily into the available space, even in a small room. And the hot-blast air outlet at the bottom, which was covered on the inside with wire mesh for safety, was given a slit configuration to avoid giving the heater the appearance of an appliance.
At a time when the designs of oil stoves, radiator-style electric heaters and most other heaters on the market had a distinct appliance appearance, this product's simple yet advanced styling established a new direction in heater design.

Freeing the Iron from Its Heavy Image

This was the forerunner of the cordless irons that have become the norm in today's households. The back of the iron serves as a connector, enabling it to be placed on a special base from which electricity flows into it, maintaining its heat while the user adjusts the position of the article being ironed or changes it for another.
Eliminating the cord made handling the iron far easier, and with the further addition of a smaller, lighter design, the old idea of the iron as a “heavy tool that's tiring to use” was cast aside. The color scheme with its white body and translucent green cassette tank, combined with the soft, tip-to-handle curved design, created a visual image of lightness that reduced the psychological burden associated with ironing as well.

A Revolutionary Technology Communicated through a Novel Form

This was the first electric rice cooker to employ induction heating (IH) to heat the pot directly. The enhanced heating capacity provided by the IH method made it possible to cook rice that tasted much better than rice prepared with conventional electric rice cookers.
Since they first appeared on the market in the 1950s, electric rice cookers had employed a standard round design modeled on the shape of a traditional pot. The innovative square shape adopted for the SR-IH18 served as a medium for visual communication of its breakthrough introduction of IH technology. The shape also fit nicely into the kitchens of the late 1980s with their advancing Westernization and increasing luxury.
Since there was no handle, the rice cooker was carried to the dining table with two hands like the ohitsu, a round wooden container in which rice is traditionally served after cooking. The top opened with the push of a button on the front, preventing steam from the freshly cooked rice from burning the server's hand. Not only the rice cooker's original form but also the reflection of Japanese tradition and detailed considerations from the user's perspective it entailed, both unique to our designs, were special characteristics of this product.

New Value Creation through Functional Ergonomics and Simple Beauty

In the late 1980s, the term asa-shan, an abbreviation of the Japanese for “morning shampoo,” came into vogue among junior-high and high-school students who insisted on washing their hair before school. The market was flooded with bathroom vanities with showerheads and “cute” designs intended to appeal to young students. The release of the Somiel with its refined, adult styling into this market created a sensation.
This vanity owes its unique appearance to its extra-large synthetic marble bowl. The curved surface stretching frontward and the curved “alcoves” sunk into the internal portion create an abundant spaciousness that seems to embrace users as they wash their hair or face. These alcoves also make convenient places to set shampoo and hair and makeup utensils, adding further functionality to this bathroom vanity with its easy-to-use showerhead, touch-button switch and sliding cover-protected power outlet. The beautiful styling featuring a simple combination of straight and curved lines redefined the vanity as a furnishing with fresh appeal, rather than a mere piece of bathroom equipment.

Beautiful Aesthetics and a Gentle Breeze

This fan applied the theory of 1/f fluctuations, which are said to resemble the cyclical motion of wind, to produce a gentle, natural-feeling breeze. Its design aspired to a light, subtle beauty that all but eliminated the impression of mundane practicality.
Unlike conventional fans, which have a large box containing a motor attached behind their blades, the F-C304F employed a special thin motor that permitted box-free styling. The pole and protector frame were also slimmed down to the greatest extent possible to enable the fan to fit gracefully into any home interior. The five small blades gave the impression of a gentle wind, even when they were not turning. Titanium grey, a color seldom seen in fans and produced using metallic powder, was selected as the primary color to express the “soft-touch” (human-oriented) quality of the gentle 1/f fluctuations created through the application of high technology.