The 10-Year Old Japanese Girl Who “Revolutionized” A Medical Product That Everyone Uses
A 10-year old Japanese girl has done more than most people will do in their lives.
Kotone Ugamochi is an elementary school student from the Ibaraki Prefecture. She won third place at the 2022 World Youth Invention Exhibition where she showed off her viral project.
It was a re-design of a popular medical product that most people will use at least once in their lives: a band-aid. Though it appears to be perfect already to most people, she realized that there was a clear opportunity to make it better.
Ugamochi set out to fix her main pet peeve about band aids, the loose fit, through her product, the Matsukiyo Easy-Wrap Finger Plaster.
The band-aid we know is very hard to put on the finger.
— Ugamochi
She noticed that the adhesive often overlaps with one’s cut, causing the user even greater pain.
Sometimes the tape is put on the cut and it is very painful and the tapes stick together easily. With this band-aid, it’ll be easier to put on the finger.
— Ugamochi
Netizens considered it “revolutionary” for its improved features. It began “turning heads” in Japan, with more people buying a box of it despite its higher price tag. It costs 327 yen ($2.17 USD) for a box of 20 while the usual band-aid sells for 217 yen ($1.44 USD) for 50 pieces.
They believe it is worth it as it curves perfectly to fit one’s finger.
It helps that the dressing is at the side and not the middle, ensuring a fit where the adhesive smoothly wraps around the finger.
Would you try one?
