Protective fibres woven into bulletproof vests for United States troops in Iraq are being put to the test outside the battlefield — by Japanese schoolchildren.
Madre, a Japanese security firm, said internet orders in Japan have been trickling in for knife-resistant sweatshirts and windbreakers it makes for children.
The line of clothing, which went on sale in May, has also drawn inquiries from South Korea, the US and Europe.
Madre’s president, Minoru Furuta, said many parents are taking extra precautions after a 2001 fatal stabbing attack at an elementary school in the western city of Osaka.
But he acknowledged that the response has surprised him.
”It’s unnatural to see this kind of clothing for children selling so briskly,” said Furuta.
The clothes are made of fiberglass and Spectra — a lightweight material made by Honeywell of the US that is 10 times stronger than steel and has been used in bulletproof vests for US soldiers and police as well as in military vehicles and aircraft.
The sweatshirts and windbreakers can’t be sliced through with a box-cutter or scissors, Furuta said.
In the past six months, Madre has sold more than 130 items, priced between 38 900 yen ($374) and 43 900 yen ($422).
Japan has one of the world’s lowest crime rates, but it has been on the rise in recent years.
In a country where children usually ride public trains and walk to school by themselves, many people were shocked when a 38-year-old man stabbed eight children to death and wounded 15 others at an Osaka elementary school in 2001.
A kidnapping-murder of two young boys in September served as a reminder to many Japanese that safety in the country has eroded.
Furuta’s company began in 1989 as a babysitting service. It now also dispatches bodyguards to accompany children home at night from cram schools. — Sapa-AP