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First self-cleaning ball: the GUNMA ball

Updated: Apr 6, 2022

Dedicated to toddlers, the self-cleaning ball GUNMA is made of an innovative photocatalytic material which permanently cleans the ball surface.

1 yellow, 1 blue and 1 pink Gunma Ball
First photocatalytic Gunma ball

Bacteria just disappeared with natural or artificial light.

Virus or mouth diseases transmission risk as any kind of contagion are reduced almost to zero when using the balls.


Test report dated March 2021 carried out by random sampling from order before shipment.


GUNMA ball has been developped in Japan by a scientists and engineers team

Manufactured according to European and Japanese safety regulations, this self cleaning ball GUNMA contains no phenol, no cadmium, no phtalats according to European Directives and also has no poisonous material as per the Japanese Food Safety Law (JFSL) and ST safety standards. The GUNMA ball is available in 2 sizes : 7cm and 15 cm.

The proper functioning of the photocatalysis is checked during standardized tests by an independent laboratory.


The GUNMA ball is available in 2 sizes : 7cm and 15 cm.

For nurseries, kindergartens but also at home, The first selfcleaning ball GUNMA is the toy which increases safety and limits the contagion risk among toddlers.


Since 2018 in Europe

Introduced by Colémoi for the first time in Europe in 2018 during the Spielwarenmesse (the biggest worldwide toysfair in Nuremberg (Germany), then at Childcare Expo in the United Kingdom and at Learning & Teaching Expo in Hong Kong, the GUNMA photocatalytic ball was also the subject of presentations to early childhood professionals in France.

Since 2018 in Europe and Asia

What is photocatalysis? The application of photocatalysis was discovered in Japan by Professor Akira Fujishima at the University of Science in Tokyo in 1967 and of which he is the current president.

It is naturally in Japan that the first industrial implementations using the process were developed in the 1990s.


Photocatalysis activates an element called semiconductor using light energy and using the natural humidity of the ambient air in order to facilitate the reaction.

Activation by light triggers a catalysis (of ancient Greek κατάλυσις Katalysis, which means to detach). An electron is thus emitted and will serve as a "cleaner" on the desired surface.

Depending on a natural or artificial light source, photocatalysis is therefore a permanent mechanism, with a long lifetime and without much variation.

Photocatalysis can destroy bacteria, certain viruses, mites, pollens and certain odors.

The challenge has been to obtain a composite material which can be molded easily and for industrial production, be compatible with tests for tearing and destruction according to current safery standards and resistant to scratches, bites, … , non-toxic, accepting non-toxic cleaning products used by communities while having photocatalytic properties.

Developed in the Japanese province of GUNMA, the self-cleaning balls carry not only the name of the province where they were born but also GUNMA-CHAN, mascot of the province born in 1994 and sacred mascot champion in Japan in 2014.

Gunma Chan is on the Gunma ball

What is a joucament? The joucament - a contraction of the words « jouet » (toy) and « médicament » (medication) in French language - differs from a therapeutic toy because it is not signifying in the psychiatric sense, does not have the function of correcting or helping to correct a particular disorder , is also not intended for Special Education Needs, but has features to prevent or alleviate the consequences of a pathology. The refrigerated teething ring, therapeutics teddy bears, ... are inert. The cold, the heat, ... relieve. The design itself participates in the treatment because of its reassuring or soothing characteristics.

The placebo effect, unanimously recognized, is an integral part of the treatment, both for the patient and his emotional environment and brings serenity where the pain should be.

Unlike existing products, GUNMA is the first toy with active principle, ie destroying bacteria, viruses, pollens and certain odors.

GUNMA is certainly the precursor of a new family of products combining active principle, preventing one or more pathologies and amusement. "Praestat cautela quam medela", ie "Prevention better than cure" is the motto of the GUNMA ball.

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