It's called design barcoding.

A Tokyo-based company customizes bar codes for Japanese companies such as Wacoal, an apparel maker.

Now, it wants to bring its business stateside.

The idea is have bar codes with logos or images.

These days, self-checkout counters are becoming hot, and millions of eyes are noticing those little lines as they turn and aim them at the scanner.

Interesting idea, eh? Media buzz in Japan gave companies like Pacarc plenty of free publicity on the matter.

I think it will catch on in the states as well.

What do you think?

Editorial Commentary by Mr. Stolyarov: Design barcoding is an original and innovative idea; it presents more opportunities for creativity on packaging-- which might attract additional consumers to the products that use it. This also shows that one of the advantages of a global economy is a back-and-forth exchange of original, innovative ideas.

Dr. Bill Belew is a former Intelligence Officer for a Destroyer Squadron. He lived 20 years in Japan, where he started a language school for Japanese ECS. Dr. Belew teaches classes for a vocational school and online for a national university.

See Dr. Belew's blog, PanAsianBiz, for news and discussions about business and current events in Russia and Asia. See ZhongHuaRising for Dr. Belew's reports on business in China and RisingSunofNihon on business in Japan.

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Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.