The Return of Black!

19 Jul 2007 Category: Features, Japan, Products

The Return of Black!

What a sight! Luxurious black seats in the "Star Flyer" connecting Tokyo and Kita-Kyushu.

Summer is all about a white wardrobe and accessories - you would think. But no! This summer, we are fully into black mode. Right now, the colour black, or “Kuro” in Japanese, is surprisingly enjoying widespread popularity in Japan. A trend so strong that we could even find an oh-so-hip black toilet paper. Oh my! Everything from household goods, grooming products, and even foods which are normally associated with the colour white are turning up in all-black versions. (And no, we didn’t think of imported Italian squid-inked spaghetti.) What ever happened to this kitschy idea of white being a symbol of cleanliness, freshness and good faith? Nah, black is cooler! Today PingMag will introduce a whole range of black stuff.

Written by Ryoko
Translated by Rie

A black aircraft: the “Star Flyer”

The Star Flyer, an air carrier connecting Tokyo and Kita-Kyushu, just started its services in March, 2006. Tatsuya Matsui, famous designer of humanoid robots PINO and POSY, was given complete freedom in designing the look of the “Star Flyer’s” aircraft. And as he is coming more from the, let’s say, robotic background, the design of this aircraft has an unprecedented originality for sure. So, this how it looks like when the concept is supposed to be “21st Century Modern:” All of the seats - even in economy class - are upholstered in black patent leather. That’s not all. Most of the aircraft’s interior and exterior is black as well, which would be extremely rare for a passenger jet. The result is both astonishing and elegant. Our tip: If you plan a trip from Tokyo to Kita-Kushu, make sure to book your flight on this futuristic “Star Flyer.”

The body of the “Star Flyer” is also black. Wait for this: When you ask for a coffee during the flight, they will serve you “Carré de chocolate“, a delicious dark chocolate. True luxury!

Black toilet paper by Renova

We always wondered who exactly decided that the colour of toilet paper has to be white? Though being black, this toilet roll by the Portuguese paper manufacturer Renova is still a convenient three-ply quality toilet paper! We don’t exactly know why it became a huge hit among celebrities all over Europe. But, up to now, over one million rolls have been sold worldwide and the manufacturer can’t even keep up with the demand! For your interest, flights on the above-mentioned Star Flyer are using this very toilet paper for the whole month of July. That might truly entertain their passengers even more.


Black toilet paper by Renova. 1,890 Yen for 6 rolls (15,50 US Dollar or 11 Euro!). Pricey, a bit, and obviously fully targeted at celebrity wannabes.

A gift pack… It contains 3 rolls at 2,625 Yen.

Black cotton swabs easily detect earwax!

These days, back cotton swabs are often seen in Japan. And as far as we assume, a lot of people would never consider going back to the ordinary white variety ever again. These cotton swabs were developed in order to easily detect earwax on their tips - easier than on its white look-alikes. After all, we as human beings believe what we can see in front of our eyes, don’t we? Just remember that the inner-ear is very delicate. Too much cleaning can seriously damage your ear. So don’t overdo it, no matter how much fun it could be!

Once you try these black cotton swabs, you will never go back to the plain white ones again! Next, you will find yourself wanting a black toothbrush…

A black toothbrush - how significantly effective!

You can easily find toothbrushes in white or shades of pastel with an eye toward cleanliness. With this “Fresh Black Toothbrush” by Jacks, however, the handle and even the bristles are black. They use special black hair with platinum colloid ceramics which are supposed to effectively remove plaque - even without toothpaste! All kids will want one of those…

The “Fresh Black Toothbrush” by Jacks. What is missing now? Correct, the need for a black toothpaste…

Can you believe that? Black toothpaste!

If you are using a black toothbrush, you might as well go all the way and use black toothpaste as well… Here it is! The oddly named “Toothpaste Thought up by Hiroshi – Pure BLACK” by Three-Hills Co., Ltd is a black toothpaste that could be especially efficient for people concerned about halitosis or periodontal disease. It promises beneficial effects on gums, and with its squid-ink-like appearance it must be so much fun to use - if you feel adventurous. And we bet you are!

Black toothpaste with a long name: “Toothpaste thought up by Hiroshi - Pure BLACK”. Your teeth will look black while brushing, but certainly much better after rinse! But who is Hiroshi?

Easier cutting with a black chopping board!

The “black chopping board” is presented by the KYOCERA Corporation, which develops mobile phones, kitchen goods and much more. This fine ceramic chopping board resists rust and won’t absorb food odours. With its onyx colour, it is much easier and safer to cut lightly coloured foodstuffs like tofu or Japanese radish. In addition, it is flexible, allowing you to move chopped food to a pot or plate without spills.

“Black chopping board” by KYOCERA. Green celery really looks sharp against the black board!

Extremely popular - and quite macho! “Otokomae Black” by OTOKOMAE TOFUTEN.

Go manly black, go “Otokomae Black”

“Otokomae Black” by OTOKOMAE TOFUTEN gives a strong impact with its packaging and name, which translates as “manly black.” The name and stark package resemble something you might see on a can of strong coffee - but actually it contains tofu. This product has become a surprise hit with housewives who are looking for a little excitement in the supermarket. Usually, all tofu packages are as white as the silken bean curd inside. However, this special tofu includes some black beans, which give the final product a hint of black colour.

Healthy black salt

Takesumi-jio, translating as “bamboo charcoal salt”, is produced by Gensen Ginmi that sell delicious healthy foodstuffs. They produce this astonishing black salt by filling hollow bamboo with natural sea salt and then roasting the bamboo over charcoal. You might be wondering if it is actually OK to eat black salt. Don’t worry! This salt won’t turn your food black, and its rather sweet taste perfectly accentuates salads, grilled meats, and even Sushi. If you are a gourmet, give it a try and discover its unique taste!

Black salt “Takesumi-jio” by Gensen Ginmi.

“Black egg” by Hakone Owakudani. You absolutely have to try eating this with the black salt mentioned above.

A Hakone speciality: black eggs!

Though the next black food in our line-up has been around for a while, we still have to include it in our trend report - because it is so amazing black! These black eggs are a speciality of Hakone Owakudani, a resort town which is famous for its hot springs. And these eggs are boiled directly in the Owakudani hot springs. Unique properties in the water cause a chemical reaction that turns the egg colour to a deep black. You don’t have to believe all that we say, BUT it is said that each black egg adds 7 years to your life!

Freshly turned black eggs, just removed from the hot spring. Really black!

Indeed, we introduced a lot of black items today, everything from an aircraft to eggs. Are you surrounding yourself with black products already? We will leave you for today with an image of black pigs, kindly provided by the Kagoshima Black Pig Producer Unions. And, as always, we would like to thank all above-mentioned companies for their contributions!!

The Kagoshima’s black pigs say a friendly “See ya!”

81 Comments

  1. Wow these things look cool! Especially the Star Flyer airplane design!
    Nice article.

    Posted by: vaneea on July 19th, 2007 at 8:21 pm

  2. [...] PingMag, come sempre una risorsa inestimabile per scoprire i trend del sol levante, trovate tutta una serie [...]

    Posted by: Black is back – Frizzifrizzi.it on July 19th, 2007 at 8:47 pm

  3. Blacks the new ‘Black’…

    There certainly seems to be something there there…

    Posted by: Tom on July 19th, 2007 at 9:29 pm

  4. I love the “Black cotton swabs” a lot. Everytime I use this, feel like “ugh” and ” Wow”.

    Posted by: Takeshi on July 19th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

  5. Hmm.. Three-ply toilet paper? In black? What’s the ecological damage on that? White 2-ply is bad enough. Black is typically the most ecological bad ink to work with. All of this doesn’t seem like a good trend over all.

    Posted by: DC1974 on July 19th, 2007 at 10:15 pm

  6. Black airplane like a funeral plane. bad luck.

    Posted by: mastushi on July 20th, 2007 at 12:55 am

  7. DC1974: wah wah wah. if they make edible black ink im sure they have earth friendly black ink for the whiners

    Posted by: Pa on July 20th, 2007 at 12:57 am

  8. I read a similar, smaller article about the “black” trend in Japan on the CScout blog.
    http://www.kilian-nakamura.com/blog-english/index.php/japanese-products-go-back-to-black/

    Posted by: Ann on July 20th, 2007 at 1:47 am

  9. [...] Article. [...]

    Posted by: Once You Go Black… « Things I like, enjoy, and like, too. on July 20th, 2007 at 3:30 am

  10. I saw the those planes on Japanorama.

    Posted by: Badger on July 20th, 2007 at 4:26 am

  11. [...] 11 Euro/6Rollen (auch in Geschenkverpackung erhältlich) hört`s noch lange nicht auf! Enjoy the Black Parade. Gibt es eigentlich auch braunes Klopapier bzw. gelb-orange [...]

    Posted by: raketenblog » Blog Archive » Black is Back on July 20th, 2007 at 4:42 am

  12. [...] Parece que a cor do verão no Japão é o preto. Pelo menos é o que parece depois que você lê esse artigo do pingmag [link]. [...]

    Posted by: Preto é o novo Preto | pristina.org | everything design on July 20th, 2007 at 5:17 am

  13. Looks more like a death plane external, but supra chic interior. BTW don’t it absorbs too much heat from the sun.

    Posted by: Joei on July 20th, 2007 at 5:30 am

  14. Black Q-tips???? EWwww

    Posted by: HDR Photography on July 20th, 2007 at 6:40 am

  15. I personally love the colour black. No shade in the colour world gives a stronger impact than black.

    Seriously though, black eggs???

    Posted by: maki on July 20th, 2007 at 11:26 am

  16. Hahaha..loves the last picture. Nice touch :)

    Posted by: kuswanto on July 20th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

  17. Including the energy saving
    Google search
    http://www.blackle.com/

    Back to back
    Only Black!

    Posted by: Paavani on July 20th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

  18. Henry Ford once said about his Model T: “You can have any colour you like, as long as it’s black”

    I think I will give the black toilet paper a miss though…

    Posted by: Alfie Goodrich on July 20th, 2007 at 4:10 pm

  19. love and what that black toohtpaste…

    Posted by: lita on July 20th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

  20. sorry i mean want…hihihih

    Posted by: lita on July 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pm

  21. [...] “The Return of Black!” is the latest article at PingMag. It’s a nice contrast to the current summer season with all its light colors. Some of the products are quite strange, black toothpaste or black toilet paper for example. Most links in the article will take you to Japanese websites. I really like to surf those kind of sites because mostly you have no clue where a link will take you. Like the website for this Japanese airline Starflyer, it took me around 20 clicks before I found some big images like these wallpapers. Fortunately your web browsers status bar can help you out. Web browsers don’t understand Japanese characters in an URL, so most websites use English links which you can ‘preview’ in your status bar. Japanese flash websites on the other hand, are always a real safari. black, design, graphic design, product design [...]

    Posted by: today and tomorrow » Blog Archive » Black on July 20th, 2007 at 6:34 pm

  22. LOL! I love PingMag :D

    Posted by: Akai on July 20th, 2007 at 7:53 pm

  23. Luvset X)
    I talked about grey gadgets on my blog here:
    http://www.fashreport.com/fashreport/2007/05/silvergizmos_a.html

    Posted by: Santosuke Pompadour on July 20th, 2007 at 11:29 pm

  24. The “Star Flyer” looks like a killer whale.

    Posted by: Chugy Chug on July 21st, 2007 at 12:16 am

  25. Very attractive products, but some almost counter your recycled design article. I’ll stick to my toilet paper made from recycled milk cartons (the softest single ply!) and just hope they decide to offer an environmentally sound black someday.

    Posted by: James on July 21st, 2007 at 2:15 am

  26. couple of weeks ago I read an article on this subject (think it was nikkei weekly). the article stated that surveys found that black contrary to common believe makes dirt a lot easier visible than white. that was given as the main reason for the rise in black cleaning/houseware products.

    Posted by: drone9 on July 21st, 2007 at 4:01 pm

  27. At last a complete range of lifestyle products for every Emo and Goth out there. I think there may be a bit too much white on the plane for their liking though.

    Posted by: MiNGLED on July 21st, 2007 at 10:32 pm

  28. black airplane - wont it be dangerous to fly at night?hopefully no birds blindly crash on them. Anyway,the design looks really cool tho

    Posted by: inky on July 22nd, 2007 at 4:30 am

  29. Black n red planes would be so much nicer!!
    All super kool though~

    Posted by: SHANTELL MARTIN on July 22nd, 2007 at 8:14 am

  30. [...] want to ask why I use black color? Well is because recently i read a post in PingMag, it says that black is getting popular in Japan. Look at that black toilet roll, cool. So I also want to experiment black with this fan. [...]

    Posted by: Bon Odori Fan Vector Download | Jayhan Loves Design & Japan on July 22nd, 2007 at 4:23 pm

  31. [...] Guarda tutti i prodotti al sito PingMag [...]

    Posted by: Black, il nuovo trend giapponese &#8211 Architettura e Design on July 23rd, 2007 at 1:42 am

  32. Awesome article! I’m loving the toilet paper especially! Now if they made black tofu…that would be interesting!

    Posted by: 小莎莎 on July 23rd, 2007 at 1:15 pm

  33. Black toothpaste? omg, scary!!

    Posted by: Mar Ci on July 24th, 2007 at 6:02 am

  34. [...] PingMag talks about a range of products in black. [...]

    Posted by: VA Editions » Rise of black on July 24th, 2007 at 3:37 pm

  35. And we just designed a fully black website for the largest image agency in Switzerland: http://www.keystone.ch/

    Posted by: Stefan Tan on July 24th, 2007 at 5:39 pm

  36. [...] pingmag Posted [...]

    Posted by: Boredom Is Your Fault » Blog Archive » Black is the new… well, black on July 24th, 2007 at 5:40 pm

  37. Hmmmm, black toothpaste does seem kinda scary. Could be neat for holloween though. I’d try the black eggs and salt though, most definitely.

    Posted by: jeremy on July 24th, 2007 at 10:42 pm

  38. Do you know online shop were I can buy toilet paper, cotton wabs and toothbrush?

    Posted by: ania on July 26th, 2007 at 6:09 pm

  39. Black = bad luck!

    Posted by: TomGia on July 26th, 2007 at 10:22 pm

  40. so nice.
    back rules the worls !
    the only thing i dislike are the black egs but it’s not about the design. they just looks “uneatable”.

    Posted by: alienlebarge on July 27th, 2007 at 1:10 am

  41. [...] the toilet papers, cotton swabs, toothbrush, toothpaste and…food! Lifted from the mighty PingMag [...]

    Posted by: lost node » Blog Archive » The Black Aircraft: Starflyer on July 27th, 2007 at 2:49 am

  42. Once you go black…

    Posted by: Lloyd on July 27th, 2007 at 8:04 am

  43. I also posted an article on “Black is Back”, with cool limited edition items now available in black. Go here:
    http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2007/07/black-is-back-but-limited.html

    Posted by: laura on July 27th, 2007 at 9:01 am

  44. well, mother earth will tell them to fu** off with the crapy products, like flying ain’t bad enough.

    unless, all that crap is made with recycled plastic which I doubt.

    ones agian, anyone can design this, its freaking easy. if you got some talent. but its noting really new. sure most planes are white or other colors. come on, give us something that really creative.

    I do think the logo is nicely done.

    ciao,
    akrok

    Posted by: akrok on July 27th, 2007 at 3:03 pm

  45. I want and need everything above.
    And I agree with akrok, mother earth sure dont like the crapy products! their noting really new.

    Posted by: Masta Batang Dollar Billz on July 28th, 2007 at 4:45 am

  46. [...] Black is the new black. [...]

    Posted by: adaptive path » blog » blog archive » Signposts for the Week ending July 27, 2007 on July 28th, 2007 at 7:31 am

  47. [...] Is Black The New Black Again! Published July 28th, 2007 Colors/Materials Check out the article from PingMag [...]

    Posted by: Is Black The New Black Again! « Dustbowl on July 29th, 2007 at 1:33 am

  48. hahaha.. i want it all black!!!

    Posted by: b. on July 29th, 2007 at 1:43 am

  49. [...] Read the rest here [...]

    Posted by: Black everything else | Sam finds things on July 29th, 2007 at 1:59 am

  50. [...] more about this trend on the excellent PingMag [...]

    Posted by: The Serif - Your daily dose of design inspiration - The Serif on July 29th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

  51. [...] en PingMag para que veas más productos de color [...]

    Posted by: El negro es el nuevo negro « Creación Automática on July 30th, 2007 at 10:36 am

  52. black is not the new black, as black never left or there never was an old black.

    by the way, for the color blind. The so called “black eggs” looks more like dark blue. (on the 1st photo)

    ciao,
    akrok

    Posted by: akrok on July 30th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

  53. can u see anything using black toilet paper?

    Armando

    Posted by: akrok on July 30th, 2007 at 12:58 pm

  54. [...] Week from Tokyo Posted by Jean Meta MoCo | Jul 25, 2007 | Comments (0) | Print Posts + A recent article on PingMag takes a look at the growing popularity of black in Japanese design, including some black [...]

    Posted by: Olasen » Lampshade on July 30th, 2007 at 3:15 pm

  55. There is a shop in Shibuya that sells the black toiley paper, but I don’t think you can buy online….

    Posted by: tokyostreet on July 30th, 2007 at 5:34 pm

  56. [...] Pingmag recently reported on the growing trend of seeing the color black on Japanese consumer products [...]

    Posted by: doane paper » Back In Black - Japanese Consumer Products on July 31st, 2007 at 3:26 am

  57. [...] última es que en Japón se lleva lo negro. Pero no me refiero a la niggerfilia, sino al color negro en cualquier producto que tradicionalmente fuera blanco. Huevos duros negros, sal negra, pasta de dientes (con su correspondiente cepillo) negra, [...]

    Posted by: El Cosmonauta: Kurofilia on August 5th, 2007 at 12:08 am

  58. [...] última es que en Japón se lleva lo negro. Pero no me refiero a la niggerfilia, sino al color negro en cualquier producto que [...]

    Posted by: El Cosmonauta: Kurofilia on August 5th, 2007 at 12:14 am

  59. [...] Oh my! Everything from household goods, grooming products, and even foods which are normally associated with the colour white are turning up in all-black versions. (And no, we didn’t think of imported Italian squid-inked spaghetti.) What ever happened to this kitschy idea of white being a symbol of cleanliness, freshness and good faith? Nah, black is cooler! Today PingMag will introduce a whole range of black stuff. [...]

    Posted by: The Black is Back « designfountain on August 10th, 2007 at 2:51 pm

  60. [...] PingMag: The Return of Black! It never left, baby. (tags: black design) [...]

    Posted by: Derek Powazek – links for 2007-08-12 on August 12th, 2007 at 4:18 pm

  61. Every Goth’s dream come true.

    Posted by: ubersp00k on August 15th, 2007 at 12:23 pm

  62. [...] Flugzeug (innen und außen) der Airline [...]

    Posted by: » Trend: alles schwarz » amapur Blog | Gesund abnehmen und leben | on August 17th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

  63. [...] Source: PingMag [...]

    Posted by: Black is the new black : digg this! on August 18th, 2007 at 2:18 am

  64. The black toilet papoer is great ! Seems like Renova manufacture a lot of other colors, too bad it’s sooo darn expansive

    Posted by: Iroke on August 19th, 2007 at 2:01 pm

  65. I just painted my old Philips refrigurator black, so i guess i’m nicely following the trends. I’ve aulways been a big fan of Japanese Design.

    Posted by: theblub on August 20th, 2007 at 12:59 am

  66. That’s so cool…I want most all of it. :)

    Posted by: Burn Suburbia on August 20th, 2007 at 8:19 am

  67. [...]  [原文链接：pingmag] 转载原创文章请注明：dogorgod‖3D artwork on the website[http://www.dogorgod.com/blog]本文链接:http://www.dogorgod.com/blog/return-of-black-pop-193.html 时间：10:19 上午 | 分类：杂乱记录‖Mess 标签：生活用品, 生活创意, 黑色 | 1 Views :: 相关文章 :: [...]

    Posted by: 见过这么彻底的“黑色会”吗？ - dogorgod‖3D artwork on the website on August 20th, 2007 at 11:19 am

  68. [...] Podéis leer un artículo completo sobre el tema en Pingmag. [...]

    Posted by: Barcelona’s Chiringuito » Archivo del weblog » Vuelve el negro on August 30th, 2007 at 7:22 am

  69. Paint it black!

    Posted by: Fernando on September 6th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

  70. i love the black

    my favorite color

    so sweet

    keep doing what you do and dont pay attention to the haters!

    Posted by: jenn on November 8th, 2007 at 2:39 am

  71. Japan rocks!

    Posted by: Okinawa News on November 24th, 2007 at 5:30 am

  72. [...] and aircrafts are going black.  The very conservative NHK News carried this topic today while this article from PingMag wrote about the same trend in [...]

    Posted by: Kuro is cool « Pursuing Wabi on December 1st, 2007 at 9:34 am

  73. hi im bill the chimp

    Posted by: some person on December 27th, 2007 at 1:13 pm

  74. I like the concept of black design, especially the airplane’s interior

    Posted by: Yuu on January 6th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

  75. [...] The Return of Black [from Ping Mag] [...]

    Posted by: starred items: clearing the to-blog list « Inaudible Nonsense on February 13th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

  76. I love the whole concept, wish I could buy the products, now that would be cool.

    Posted by: Barb on June 19th, 2008 at 9:04 am

  77. this is totally not true…
    i live in tokyo, and dont find any black thing around me last year.
    only the black cotton u can find easily in ur local shop.

    Posted by: tom4 on June 26th, 2008 at 9:39 pm

  78. [...] PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” » Archive » The Return of … [...]

    Posted by: PingMag: Design in Black :: Pete’s Eats on August 23rd, 2008 at 8:40 am

  79. [...] La semana pasada, mientras esperaba mi turno en la consulta del psicólogo, llegó a mis manos una revista con un artículo sobre la tendencia del negro en Japón en productos de consumo. No es de extrañar que fuese del año pasado y, con la ayuda de Google, pude encontrar unos pocos productos que se nos antojan extraños en color negro [en]. [...]

    Posted by: Negro » MakeMeMinimal on November 28th, 2008 at 7:35 am

  80. Woooo black is back!

    Posted by: japan pictures on May 16th, 2009 at 8:34 am

  81. I really like to surf those kind of sites because mostly you have no clue where a link will take you.

    Posted by: zhuzhiyan on August 27th, 2009 at 2:52 am

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