Yamada to Sell ” Human Washing Machine”

(The last paragraph should have read,”…people who could not visit the Expo…” instead of as sent. A substitute story follows.) Yamada to Sell ” Human Washing Machine” Tokyo, Nov. 27 (Jiji Press)–Home electronics retailer Yamada Holdings Co. has said it will sell a human washing machine, which attracted attention at the World Exposition in the western Japanese city of Osaka, at its flagship store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district. A demo unit of the “Mirai (future) Human Washing Machine” will be displayed at the store starting Dec. 25, with an experience corner, Yamada Holdings said Wednesday. The company has not decided when it will start selling the product. The price is expected to be 60 million yen, it said. The human washing machine was developed by Osaka-based Science Co., which produces products using technology that generates fine bubbles. By simply lying down in a 2.3-meter-long capsule, the machine washes a bather with microbubbles and a fine mist shower, completing the whole process, including drying, in about 15 minutes. Sensors monitor a bather’s health during use, while the machine provides relaxing visuals and music. More than 40,000 applications were submitted for the bathing experience at the Expo, which ended in October. “We want people who could not visit the Expo to experience this technology,” Science Chairman Yasuaki Aoyama said at a press conference Wednesday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]