A company has asked female employees to wear a badge to signal when they're on their periods.
Female staff at a new shop in Osake, Japan have been encouraged to don the pins in a bid to tackle the stigma around periods in the country.
Women working at the Michi Kake store do not have to take part in the scheme, but those that do will attach the period badge next to their name tag.
The scheme makes thematic sense in the context of the shop, which sells an array of female sexual and menstrual health products.
The badges feature a cartoon character named Seiri-chan, who is known as a symbol for the menstrual cycle in Japan, WWD Japan reported.
Both staff who do and don't opt into the scheme will guide staff around a shop split into four area which correspond to different stages of the menstrual cycle.
In the blue section products will be stocked for women on their periods.
The glittering section provides post-period items, the turbulence section has a selection of products for when you're feeling irritable and the gloomy section products for right before when your periods starts.
"In Japan, there is a tendency for women’s sexuality and periods to be subjects ‘not to be mentioned’," store manager Takahiro Imazu told WWD.
“Not all customers will react positively to [this shop], but the fem tech boom is growing, and the values of young people are changing with it.
“I might be going a little far in saying this, but I am excited for it to become a shop for solutions for women’s sensitive needs, and to be an asset to the marketplace.”
In other period news, earlier this month MirrorOnline's Talia Shadwell wrote about how her period tracking app appeared to know things about her she didn't.
"My Facebook feed was suddenly becoming cluttered with mummy and baby advertisements," she wrote about her phone's reaction to her forgetting to enter information into the app.
"Out of nowehere, I was being targeted with sponsored posts for everything from pregnancy health vitamins, to baby clothing and children’s books.
"It was bizarre because I have no children — and not that it’s anyone’s business — but I don’t plan on it anytime soon."
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