aye laddie, t'is tofhaggis!

On the other hand, it's too bad all the packaging used in mass-market products in Japan is so incredibly wasteful...

And if those balloons get into the wild, they may end up choking birds and sea turtles! :( But otherwise it's a cool idea.

I wonder how much of our (US) wasteful packaging is due to FDA-labeling requirements?

Is it still non wasteful packaging if they come in larger wasteful packages like the other photo on their site?

perhaps a good use for GMO would be breeding packaging plants. Extra broad leaved bamboo?

Marisa beat me to it. Sure, the tofu's in balloons, but those balloons come in a tube.

Oh and but presumably the balloons and plastic clips or whatever are biodegradable and whatnot.

Heroin dealers have been using balloons for packaging for decades. The small waterballoons are the perfect size, & you can easily store one in your mouth.. : )

umm... *mind in the gutter*

It kind of undermines things when the 3 puddin' balls come in a regular old plastic sleeve. Seems like you're actually getting more plastic with the balloons just to help the pudding keep its shape, not less.

http://www.bocca.co.jp/purin//

ah Japan the land of triple wrapping everything. Buy some pastries for breakfast, each one will have a plastic card that it rests on, then they will wrap each one individually, then the bunch in a bag. mmm breakfast pastries I need to go back soon.

Cool. Finally a safe way to practice for a career as a Drug Mule.

Another designer who only sees how cool and innovative something can be, not the actual real world application.

Perhaps if I could propel the pudding balloon out of some type of cannon it might sell. Kids, it's lunch time, open wide, BOOM.

Isn't this why we came up with recycling? REALLY?

Are you sure this wasn't inspired by Columbian drug mules?

all this is is round sausages. None of you ever ripped out anyone's intestines and played with them?

Coming from someone living in Japan -- Japan wastes no time wasting packaging. EVERYTHING has packaging, and not some, but tons. And everything here has a opening spot which ends up giving you two or more pieces of plastic wrapping to throw away instead of just one.

I still await the inevitable day when I open my bag of M&M's only to find each individual one hand-wrapped in expensive high-quality wrapping. Yes, it is an exaggeration, but in every exaggeration there is truth.

It would be interesting to see how their cocaine is packaged.

If you buy fresh made mozzarella, it is packaged almost identically, at least in Pork stores around NYC.

Who wants to have a tofu balloon fight? Hands high so I can see them people!

Ew.

I can just imagine finding a used one on the ground. "Hmm, weird shape and I don't understand this cinch thing, but what the.. heck... is this... white stuff???"

I'd like to see someone try to take these through airport security.

Granted the package is smaller than normal, but there is still something left.

And... the packaging is definitely not re-usable and probably not recyclable (dunno).

I question any website that gives tofu top billing over pudding.

Come on- what kind of a mess is made when you "open" the package with a toothpick? I guess for tofu it -might- quickly pop around it and leave a nice ball, but I really doubt it could do that for pudding.

I'd hate to be afraid of opening my food. If you have to wear protective clothing and goggles to open it, and potentially have to clean up after it- no real savings there, environmental or otherwise.

Are you sure they aren't packaged in recycled condoms? http://inventorspot.com/articles/china_takes_importance_recycling_8597

One day when I was in Tokyo I wanted an American style breakfast and I was curious to see what McDonalds in Japan was like so I got something from there to go.

They put my food in a paper McDonalds bag and then put that bag in a clear plastic bag.

It occurred to me that this package has no less waste than a typical tofu tub.

@#26 I had a similar reaction - pudding in balloons sounds MESSY. Even more so if you can pop it with a toothpick - that's almost a guarantee that it will get popped in the shopping bag on the trip home.

If it comes in a plastic sleeve, what do you need the balloons for? Someone's just being clever.

This looks great except for people who are allergic to latex.

My tofu needs a muuuuuuuuch larger balloon.

Are they implying that you're supposed to pop the balloons with Australian chewing sticks?

It's funny and creepy to remember that the same type of package was used by the Aum Shinrikyo cult to perpetrate the 1995 sarin gas attacks on Tokyo subway. The cult members involved punched holes in the packages with their umbrellas before leaving the trains and killed 12.Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway

I was shocked when I first got to Japan by the amount of unnecessary packaging. It seemed to sit strangely with the recycling obsession; but of course, there's more profit in recycling if there's more to recycle. I'm sure it all ties up somehow.

Favourite Japanese environmental policy; having students effectively lose a few months of schooling a year because they're demented with heat, while shops throw their doors open and crank up the aircon in a noble but futile attempt to cool the entire Asia Pacific region down to 18C. Screw the libertarian half of my instincts; ban air-conditioning of non-enclosed spaces, and let the students study under reasonable conditions.