Edgy Japanese Eraser Has 28 Corners

28-cornered eraser rubs you the right way!
Students, businessmen, artists, basically anyone who uses a pencil will at some point need an eraser, and the best eraser to use is a new one with sharp corners - which quickly get rounded with use. Not so with the Kadokeshi Plastic Eraser from Japan, which has - count 'em - 28 corners!

Japanese designers have a well-earned reputation for taking existing designs and improving them. The transistor radio and the VCR are just a couple. This type of creative expertise has also been applied to mundane, everyday objects such as the humble eraser. Not an evidence eraser, mind you, but a "rubber" like the classic Pink Pearl eraser we used back in grade school.

I've covered Japanese miniature collectible erasers in a previous post, but the Kadokeshi Plastic Eraser is a little different... it doesn't try to be anything but an eraser, and it follows that particular mission to the ultimate end by having 28 corners.


You'd smile too after being rubbed all day...
What's the big deal about corners, you ask? Well, if you use a common Pink Pearl eraser on a regular basis you'll note that a fresh, sharp corner works best for precise erasing with a minimum of smudging. Trouble is, after a few rubs the corners start to round out and unlike a pencil, they can't be sharpened. Luckily, Japanese stationary company Kokuyo has found an answer: just add more cowbell, er, corners!


The eraser from the future, today!
Now that's easier said than done - your average rectangular eraser has 8 corners and ONLY 8 corners, at least in our feeble three-dimensional reality. Kokuyo's genius was to not try to add corners to a rectangle, but instead change the shape of the eraser itself so that optimal corners are created. The result is the Kadokeshi, or "corner eraser".


The 28-cornered eraser - don't leave home without it
Kokuyo offers the Kadokeshi in a few style and size variations. Choose from white, pink or blue - and note the cute smiley faces; in Japan, everything has a face it seems. You can also select Mini or Big sizes, and a unique cellphone charm version that conveniently attaches to your mobile phone via an included lanyard.

Don't ask me why you'd want an eraser attached to your cellphone - Kokuyo thinks you do, so let's just leave it at that. Visit the Japanese product page to get pricing, though it looks like the Kadokeshi is only available in Japan at the present time (via Tokyomango)