Exploding piggy bank could help Japanese save

A new piggy bank bomb could make saving money more of a thrill.

Japanese toy maker TOMY Co Ltd is releasing a bomb-shaped piggy bank that shakes, shines, beeps and "explodes" to remind the user to feed it coins.

When a lazy user fails to add cash to the battery-operated piggy bank every day, it vibrates and makes noises on an hourly basis, finally concluding the loud reminders by exploding - or rather, automatically opening its skull-marked door and scattering all the contents on to the floor.



"This is a piggy bank where you have no way but to save", a spokeswoman for TOMY said.

"We wanted to add some thrill to an act that's usually painstaking."

The product, which goes on sale next week, costs about 3,000 yen ($27) and, despite the odd explosion, can be used repeatedly.