During my stay in Japan, I found an interesting Japanese toy. This toy is “Jinsei Ginko”, which means “bank of life”. “Jinsei Ginko” is not a simple piggy bank. Since it was developed by a toy company, it has the nature of game. In other words, with “Jinsei Ginko”, we can save money while we are enjoying a game.
Once the user starts to put a coin into the toy, the character in it starts his life. At first, he lives a poor life in a small room. However, if the user keeps putting coins into it, the life of the character improves better. For example, he can move into a gorgeous larger room and can enjoy watching a TV. He can also marry and live a happy life with his wife. There are also various kinds of jobs that he can get. In addition, he can also participate in many events such as concerts and parties that are held around his life.
The scenario of the character all depends on how the user saves money. For example, the scenario changes according to the target amount and date that the user decides. In addition, saving pace also influences the character’s life. If the saving pace is slow, the user is pressed to put a coin into the toy. The changes in the character’s life based on the various scenarios encourage the user to save money with fun. When the targeted date that the user inputs at the beginning comes, the game ends. If the user successfully saves a targeted amount of money by the targeted date, the user sees a happy ending of the scenario and shares the happy feelings with the character. If the user fails to save a targeted amount of money, the character disappears from the screen…
I was really attracted by the concept of “Jinsei Ginko”. It is very interesting to combine two very different concepts (almost two opposite concepts) of “saving money” and “fun game”. “Saving money” is practical use and that of “fun game” is entertainment. Actually, it is reported that many people succeeded in saving money thanks to this fun toy. For many people, it is annoying to save money against their desires. I was amazed by the power of new technology to change the negative perception of “saving money” into the positive one of “have fun”.
The pictures below are some scenes of the chracter’s life. In the first scene, he lives a poor life in a small room. On the other hand, the middle scene is his wedding! And, in the lowest scene, he married and lives a happy life with his wife!!!
