A month has passed since Fujimi Sogyo (Konya-cho, Hirosaki City) put up a notice saying, "Summer wipers have started," at its own gas station.

The company operates gas stations inside and outside Aomori Prefecture, mainly in Hirosaki. The three stores that posted the "Summer wiper started" advertisement were "Liberta 102 SS" (Fukumura Shinkansen), "Liberta Joto SS" (Joto), and "Liberta Kuroishi SS" (Nakagawa, Kuroishi City). Ms. Mikiko Aizu, who works at the gas station, was in charge of the design.

Aizu started writing handwritten advertisements after joining the art club in high school. “Since I can't use a computer, I sometimes ask the person in charge at the headquarters to digitize what I wrote by hand,” says Aizu. The poster for the summer wiper is said to have come up with an eye-catching design to call for replacement.

Mr. Aizu says, "When you think of a notice that catches the eye in summer, it's 'I've started chilled Chinese noodles.' I thought it would be interesting to do it with a wiper in the summer, so I intentionally made it look like it's for business instead of handwriting."

Since the snow thawed earlier than usual this year, calls for replacement of "summer wipers" have been made since early March. Aizu said, "We haven't been able to contribute to sales yet, but as spring approaches in earnest, more people will be exchanging."

Mr. Aizu says, "It's unique to a snowy country that there is a difference between using summer wipers and winter wipers, just like changing tires. Deteriorated wipers make it difficult to see, which affects safe driving. The posters will help as many people as possible. I hope it will be an opportunity to stop and buy a new one."