Japanese are apparently addicted to the sound and downright pleasure of puchipuchi — bursting plastic bubble wrap — reports Yoko Hani in The Japan Times. “It’s a phenomenon that’s easy to deride for its utter simplicity, but that is precisely its appeal,” says Ayaka Sugiyama of bubble-wrap manufacturer Kawakami Sangyo.

“I have learned that there is a psychological factor involved in bursting bubble-wrap,” she says. Kawakami Sangyo registered the brand name “putiputi” in 1994 for bubble wrap, which the company formerly called just “air bags.” Established in 1968, the company now has a 43 percent share of the market in Japan.

“Putiputi is a functional item, but I thought there must be completely different ways of using it,” says Sugiyama, who now is proud to hold the title of Head of the Putiputi Culture Research Institute at Kawakami Sangyo. “I wanted to make unique Putiputi products.”

One of these is Pucchin Sukatto, a 10 x 10 cm bubble-wrap sheet developed purely for popping purposes, costing ¥198 for ten sheets. Pucchin is the description in Japanese of the sound made when you pop bubble wrap, and sukatto means to feel refreshed.

Toy maker Bandai put a key chain called Mugen Putiputi (meaning Unlimited Putiputi) on the market in late September, after codeveloping the product with Kawakami Sangyo. Dangling off the key chain are eight bubbles made with a special plastic material that users can pop as many times as they wish — after being popped, they inflate, ready to go again.

Within 10 days of Mugen Putiputi hitting the market, 300,000 units of the ¥819 product were sold, causing Bandai to change its six-month sales target to 2 million pieces from the initial 1 million.

Since bubble wrap is a good insulator, sleeping bags are another obvious use — handy when sleeping in the office and during earthquakes: “Putiputi sleeping bags are very convenient when you have to stay in the office at night,” Sugiyma explains.

“Also, these sleeping bags can be emergency items, such as when we have earthquakes. In fact, we sent 300 bubble-wrap sleeping bags to Niigata Prefecture in 2003 when the area was struck by a big earthquake.”

Sugiyama has collected such interesting facts and anecdotes in her Putiputi Official Book, covering burning questions such as “Which side is the surface of bubble-wrap?” and “It reveals the truth behind the sometimes heard rumor that you can find heart-shaped bubbles on regular Putiputi sheets. Kawakami Sangyo put one heart-shaped bubble in about every 1,000 bubbles on a regular sheet so that users can enjoy petit luck when they find one.”