YKK Honored with Top Prize at Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Award Ceremony ～Chosen for the Orange Innovation Award 2024 From Among 35 Participating Companies～
March 27, 2025
YKK Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Hiroaki Otani; hereafter, YKK), participated in the award ceremony for the “Orange Innovation Award 2024” on March 5.
Chika Nishida, YKK Corporation (right)
(at the March 5 award ceremony)
To develop zippers that are easy for everyone to open and close, YKK brought clothing and accessories with its fastening products to senior day care centers, group homes, and dementia support meetings in Osaka City and Tottori City. These visits allowed YKK to engage directly with users, understand their experiences, and address their needs. YKK conducted interviews to understand the challenges people face when opening and closing zippers in daily life. Emphasizing a participatory approach, the company engaged in ongoing dialogue with individuals affected by dementia, refining its zipper designs through an iterative process of feedback and prototype testing. YKK was lauded for its attempts to expand the project across multiple generations, and for the fact that development is being conducted in conjunction with a diverse range of stakeholders.
YKK took the stage at the Japan Public-Private Council on Dementia general meeting on March 18 to explain this initiative.
YKK will continue to help create a society where everyone can live their lives comfortably by using its small fastening products.
The development of zippers that are easy for anyone to open and close is based on three existing products:
Magnets are embedded in the left and right open parts components, and the magnetic force of the magnets makes it possible to close the zipper simply by bringing the open parts closer together. It was impressive to see the smiles on the faces of people affected by dementia, who had difficulty operating conventional zippers, when they were able to open and close zippers by themselves. Based on requests regarding the color of the parts, YKK is working on improvements to further enhance operability.
This product uses a plastic part added afterwards to widen the insertion slot, and support the insertion of the open zipper. Through dialogue with people affected by dementia, YKK realized that zipper operability could be enhanced by widening the insertion slot, and is working to improve the shape.
This product has a universal puller design. Initially, a ring type that could be opened and closed by hooking a finger in the hole was being considered, but YKK is currently considering a design that is easier to pinch, since many people affected by dementia pinched the puller to open and close the zipper.
■Information about the “Orange Innovation Award 2024”
The Orange Innovation Award 2024, organized by the secretariat of the Dementia Innovation Alliance Working Group (METI), aims to promote the development of products and services in a variety of industries and fields that help people with dementia solve issues in their daily lives and accomplish the things they want to do, thereby increasing recognition of “development with the participation of people affected by dementia” and bringing about an inclusive society. The award is given to companies and organizations which engage in participation-based development together with people affected by dementia.
＜METI website＞
■Information about the Japan Public-Private Council on Dementia
The Japan Public-Private Council on Dementia was established to promote barrier-free dementia initiatives in cooperation with the national government, local governments, various industry organizations, and people affected by dementia, and holds a general meeting once a year to report the results of its efforts.