A prize-winning Japanese author helps make waves in the glasses and plastic bath tubs industries.

Sonoko Machida, a Japanese author who won the 2021 Japan Booksellers’ Award Grand Prize for her work 52 Hertz no Kujiratachi, posted in February about the “unfoggable” glasses that she wears while in the bath. Even though they went on sale back in November, ever since Sonoko’s post, they’ve been picking up steam (in the figurative sense–most certainly not in the literal one) and repeatedly selling out.

▼ “My eyes are really bad, and because that makes it tough when I take a bath, I bought some special glasses for that purpose. The lenses are thankfully included. Plus, they’re cute!” 

Sold by eyewear maker Megane Store, the glasses are actually a collaboration product to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kerorin, a company that produces the ubiquitous yellow plastic tubs found in all manner of baths across Japan. They play up the design of the tubs with their accompanying yellow case, yellow color accents, and red lettering that spells out “Kerorin” in more than one place.

▼ A typical Kerorin plastic tub

The glasses were originally developed to improve the experience of people taking baths–whether in private or public–who have trouble seeing things clearly without their glasses or contact lenses on. Unlike regular glasses that are quick to fog up, easy to become overheated, and are made using metal parts susceptible to rusting, these ones have a special lens coating that makes it difficult for fog to accumulate. Furthermore, the frames and lenses are also made from non-metal materials that are heat resistant up to 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit). Finally, the case’s design incorporates a small drainage hole at the base so that the glasses can dry off quickly if any water gets inside.

If you’ve soaked all of this up and are ready to buy a pair of bath-use glasses for yourself, they’re currently available to purchase at Megane Store’s online shop or Rakuten Japan starting at 6,578 yen (US$45.98). They come in three frame color choices (yellow, clear, and black) and five levels of lens strength (-2.00, -3.00, -4.00, -5.00, and -6.00 diopters).

For the record, we’d like to share that our team has also developed our own novel method of preventing steam on glasses by instead freezing them inside of a block of ice. We’ll leave it up to you which method you choose to pursue.

Source: Maido na News via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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