Box and actual tampon - ad
for an Elldy with applicator (October 1996)
Early Japanese tampon (1977): Shampon
Young
A Japanese university student generously sent me the ad, along with
others, some very old, which were part of a paper
she wrote about the history of the Japanese menstrual products industry.
And, of course, the first Tampax AND - special
for you! - the American fax tampon,
from the early 1930s.
See a Modess True or False? ad in The American
Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley
in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates).
 
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Japanese menstrual tampon with finger cots (Elldy tampons), 1990s
Below is a sheet of 10 finger cots, protective
coverings for the index finger; the sheet comes in the box containing the
Elldy tampon from Japan. The cots prevent the finger's having any contact
with the vagina and its contents when inserting the tampon (see instructions
below).
The instructions, the second and third
items below, are different sizes to show the more important side more clearly.
I have enlarged the drawing showing the way the cot is put on. It seems
like a good idea, probably more ecologically
effective than using a "plunger" applicator.
Note the English "Let's enjoy tampon life,"
startling words I doubt a native English speaker would utter. How many Japanese
would understand it?
And look at the "Q" and "A" in the question section.
The letters must be familiar enough for women to understand it. It could
be that Japanese women who use tampons are more sophisticated,
and more likely to understand English, as Japanese
in general much prefer pads (as do Asians in general and Hispanics),
probably for the sake of cleanliness.
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But a woman who grew up in Japan e-mailed this explanation (January
2001):
Hi!
You had two questions on your Web site about Japanese tampon companies
using English.
The first one (why are the instructions for opening the packet in English?)
is pretty simple. English is a decorative
language in Japan, much in the same way that
you'll see random Chinese characters (usually misprinted or completely
out of context) on clothes and hats in the US just because it looks cool.
Except that in Japan they've been using English as
a decorative language for years and years and years now. With something
as simple as "open" you really can't go wrong, but for some really
funny examples of "Engrish" I recommend you going to www.engrish.com. (A good example of "Engrish"
on your museum's Web site would be the Elddy tampon instructions that say
"Let's enjoy tampon life!")
As for the girl saying "ummm," that's
also pretty simple. That's just the ad using roman characters to spell
out Japanese onomatopoeia (Roma-ji). She's just sighing
comfortably.
[The writer later added:]
I'm just a regular Jane
Schmoe that happened to grow up in Japan.
You have a GREAT museum!
This example is from 1992.
Long download time!
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Sheet of finger cots in box
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Instructions, with enlargment showing how to use the cot
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Front side of instructions, obviously reduced in size
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Box and actual tampon - ad
for an Elldy with applicator (October 1996) - Early Japanese tampon (1977):
Shampon Young
© 2001 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any
of the work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission
of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org
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