See Cameo and Ortex Gold tampons, the same tampon in different packaging for different countries.
Japanese tampon with finger cots - Shampon Young Japanese stick tampons - ad for Japanese Elldy tampon with applicator (October 1996) - Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A.) - ad for the Kotex stick tampon (1970s)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
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homepage | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
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Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.

Anshin origami menstrual tampon (Japan, 1977) (the same as Ortex in the Netherlands and, earlier, Cameo in Japan)

Irony as you like it!

The Japanese tampons on this site surprise you by their originality, which might have been to avoid patent conflicts with Tampax and other applicator tampons.

I suspected this might have been an early Japanese tampon because of the English writing (and Caucasian models) and because the Japanese seem to much prefer pads.

But this is actually a British tampon - Cameo - adapted to the Japanese market just as the packaging for Tampax has been changed for markets outside the U.S.A. I thank a Dutch contributor for pointing this out and sending proof, which I add here. But the tampon also appeared under its original name in Japan, Cameo (gift from Tambrands)! A menstrual melodrama (or something) and known as Ortex Gold Soft in The Netherlands! I'll show proof of all these claims.

We know how talented the Japanese are folding paper into interesting shapes - origami (literally "bending paper") - and the user of Anshin got plenty of practice doing this. It would have helped if she read the instructions first.

Another tampon came with finger cots.

Read some comments about the Japanese Elldy tampon.

In 1997 Tambrands gave the box to this museum as part of an amazing gift of 450 boxes of tampons dating to the founding of the second Tampax company, 1936, plus hundreds of other items. And thanks to a Dutch contributor for pointing out the British connection and sending proof.

Below: Both large sides of the box are the same. Note the non-Asian people, probably reflecting the original manufacturer,
an English company. People at the former Tambrands (which made Tampax) marked the box. The box measures 6 1/8" x 3 3/8"
x 7/8" (15.5 x 8.5 x 2 cm).
 
Below: The two long, narrow sides are also identical. Below this is an enlargement in case you want to freshen up your Japanese.
The blue characters say Anshin tampon (actually taNpon, I believe) in katakana, one of the two Japanese phonetic scripts.
 
Below: The ends are indentical.
 
Below: Open an end and pull out a drawer of tampons in colorful wrappers!
 
Below: When written in Chinese-Japanese characters (kanji) the name of the tampon looks like the picture below. In commerce, companies
sometimes use phonetic symbols rather than kanji, probably to eliminate any question of pronunciation - how could you
sell something if you couldn't pronounce it? -, which can confound even the Japanese. And you thought English was bad!
 
"AN" is one pronunciation of the character at left. In one of the greatest ironies of menstrual hygiene (keep reading!) it means restful, easy or cheap - restful in this case. It suspiciously comes from an original Chinese character created thousands of years ago showing a woman sitting on a menstrual pad - no, really! See more explanation.
"SHIN" and "kokoro" are pronunciations of the character at right and it means heart or feelings. Together, the characters in Japanese (ANSHIN) mean peace of mind or relief. THIS IS IRONY IN ITS HIGHEST FORM! See how you feel as you read the instructions!

NEXT: See the interesting origami you have to do before using the tampon - peace of mind, ha!
Japanese tampon with finger cots - Shampon Young Japanese stick tampons - ad for Elldy tampon with
applicator (October 1996) - Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A.) - ad for the Kotex stick tampon (1970s)

© 2006 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