This is a question worth pondering.
I have long heard that many housewives in Japan are keen on making inventions, such as nail clippers with small plastic boxes, etc. They make them by themselves after encountering certain inconveniences in their daily lives. The brain devised a way to invent it. Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times. Some time ago, at a unique "Life Invention Exhibition" held at the Tokyu Department Store in Shibuya Commercial Center, Tokyo, the reporter witnessed the intelligence of Japanese women. At that exhibition, *** exhibited about 100 daily necessities invented and created by housewives across Japan in the past year.
At the exhibition, the reporter saw that many small inventions were not as high-end as the new inventions and new products exhibited by companies at the "Tokyo International Exhibition Center". The technical content may seem relatively simple, but these are the crystallization of the wisdom of Japanese housewives and are very practical. For example, the "Pants for Artificial Anus" invented by Setsuko Miki, a woman from Hyogo Prefecture, is equipped with a special pocket, which not only prevents the bag containing excrement from coming into direct contact with the patient's skin, but also facilitates the disposal of excrement and can reduce or relieve the patient's pain. This little invention won the "Patent Office Director's Award." The "multifunctional bag" invented by Tokyo woman Yoshiko Kamo can not only be worn as a hat to protect the head from the sun, but also can be used to hold items, which is very convenient. At the exhibition, reporters also saw a new "safe and labor-saving kitchen knife" that is not only less likely to cause accidents when cutting hard cooking ingredients such as pumpkins, causing injury to the operator, but is also more convenient and labor-saving than the kitchen knives widely used today.
According to the Japan National Association of Inventing Women, most of the small inventions exhibited at this exhibition have obtained patents, and some items needed in daily life have even begun production and are ready to be put on the market in large quantities. There is also a negotiation room in a corner of the exhibition, which is specially prepared for negotiating the transfer of patent rights. If a company is interested and believes that some small inventions can become best-selling products, they can negotiate on the transfer of patent rights on the spot. For example, the "health towel" invented by a housewife has become a very best-selling toiletry in Japan because it can produce a massage effect without damaging the skin during use.
Japanese traditional custom is that women generally stop working after giving birth and mainly take care of children and housework at home. But among them, quite a few have undergraduate degrees, and some have master's degrees and have the potential to make small inventions. Relevant parties in Japan also attach great importance to this and often organize various activities to encourage women to commercialize their own small inventions and contribute to society.
With the strong support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Patent Office, the Invention Association, and the Invention Promotion Association, the Japanese women’s circle established the Japan National Inventive Women’s Association in 1971 to organize and guide housewives to actively engage in various projects. Invent and create, and hold the "Life Invention Exhibition" in April every year. In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of women to engage in invention and creation, awards are given at each exhibition. At this exhibition, ***10 special prizes were awarded, including the "Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award", "Patent Office Director's Award", "Tokyo Governor's Award", "Invention Association President's Award", and 5 1 Excellence Award and 15 Encouragement Awards.
Tomoko Shimizu, a housewife who won the special prize at this exhibition, said that frequent participation in such small invention exhibitions helped her develop the habit of using her brain to find solutions when encountering inconveniences in daily life. , and at the same time, it also increased her self-confidence and made her feel the meaning of life. Small inventions not only enrich the lives of housewives, but also enable some women to earn a considerable amount of income by transferring patent rights.