South Australian law on single-use plastic packaging coming into force on 1 September will ban polyethylene containers known as shoyu-tai in Japan

The device known as shoyu-tai (or soy-sauce snapper in Japanese) was invented in 1954 by Teruo Watanabe, the founder of Osaka-based company Asahi Sogyo, according to a report from Japan’s Radio Kansai.

It was then common for glass and ceramic containers to be used but the advent of cheap industrial plastics allowed the creation of a small polyethylene container in the shape of a fish, officially named the “Lunch Charm”.

The invention quickly spread around Japan and eventually worldwide, and it is estimated that billions have been produced.

    • fartsparkles@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32·
      12 days ago

      South Australia will be the first place in the world to ban them under a wider ban on single-use plastics that comes into force on 1 September.

    • phant@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      12 days ago

      A decent question. Especially if this ban allows the ripper pouch style single serve sauces.
      I have collected a tonne of the fish shaped bad boys at river clean ups, so maybe they’re somehow worse. Tbh takeaway sushi could improve in a lot of ways to reduce single use plastics, so kinda funny that the cute fish copped it.