Companies are hoping the Olympics will be a chance to introduce customers to what they consider their gold-medal innovation: the ultra-thin 0.01mm condom
Japanese condom makers are ramping up preparations ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, seeing a golden opportunity to showcase their world-record ultra-thin products.
For years, hundreds of thousands of condoms have been distributed for free to competitors at Olympic Games in a bid to encourage safe sex among the world’s fittest athletes.
The tradition provides prophylactic producers with a potentially unrivalled marketing opportunity.
In Japan, condom makers are hoping the Olympics will be a chance to introduce customers to what they consider their gold-medal innovation: the ultra-thin 0.01mm condom.
In addition to its barely there construction, the condoms are made of polyurethane, a material suitable for people allergic to the latex that is standard for many condoms.
“It’s only Japanese companies that now manufacture condoms as thin as 0.01-0.02mm,” said Hiroshi Yamashita, senior manager and spokesman at Sagami Rubber Industries, a leading Japanese condom maker. “We see [the Tokyo Games] as an extremely precious opportunity to let the world know about Japan’s hi-technology.”
Condoms have long been Japan’s most popular contraceptive method, with birth control pills not even available on the local market until 1999.
But Japan’s condom makers currently lag behind rivals internationally, with Britain’s Durex and US firm Trojan the world’s top dogs.
Japanese producer Okamoto Industries is tied for third place with a condom unit formerly owned by Australia’s Ansell, while Sagami comes next, according to Yamashita.
Sagami has been in business since 1934, when its founder Saku Matsukawa started it to help fellow Japanese women prevent unwanted pregnancies at a time when poverty and food shortages haunted the country.
But after decades of popularity, sales in Japan began to drop in the 2000s, partly due to an ageing population and a rising number of young people staying single.
