Living in Japan one quickly becomes acquainted with kawaii かわいい culture, the relentless pursuit of cuteness. Surely not everything in Japan is cute?  Errr…Recently my apartment building asked its residents to turn in their old fire extinguishers for the following (what I first thought was a Mickey Mouse-inspired)  safety device:

If there’s anything that doesn’t need to be adorable, it’s a fire extinguisher.  To shed some light on this curious design, I visited the company’s website to learn about the Hatsuta ALS-1R. Although Hatsuta markets its products in English, the cute products are only marketed in Japanese. As to why their product is so charming, the following description offers only a partial explanation:

“Easy, easy to carry and safe-to-use, compact and lightweight type is women and the elderly. In addition, the best elegant pastel green, as well as to match anywhere in the interior.”

“女性や高齢者にも簡単に、しかも安全に使える持ち運びに便利な、小型・軽量タイプです。 また、優雅なパステルグリーンは、インテリアとしても最適、どこにおいてもマッチします。”

Of course, I can’t refrain from sharing Hatsuta’s safety warning cartoons…

See:

See also:

• ハローキティ消化器がプレゼントしたくなるほど可愛いと話題に Hello Kitty fire extinguisher
• A bit of fire in central Tokyo
• Street fire extinguishers 街頭消火器
• Disaster Prevention Parks 防災公園 (bosai koen)
• The kawaii singularity: learning to love our (adorable) robot overlords