The 1979 Chiritori remote controlled miniature vacuum cleaner is another idea that sprouted from Gunpei Yokoi's brain, like so many quirky Nintendo products from the pre-Famicom era.
The box art is a well designed two-tone affair. However, in my opinion it does not really exuberate fun. While this little vacuum is anything but serious. It is just a toy, a novelty item.
The accompanying trade leaflet does a much better job in showing what the Chiritori is to be used for: to play. This leaflet, dated April 16 1979, was used to advertise the product to shops and wholesale buyers.
Chiritori leaflet front and back
The scene on the front shows the Chiritori in action, with a colourful drawing.
In the early 70s, a series of remote controlled cars had been released by Nintendo (called Lefty RX). These used a rudimentary single-button radio control mechanism, allowing the cars to start and stop. Steering was not an option: the “left” in the name refers to the fact that the front wheels of the cars were fixed going to the left side.
A similar radio control mechanism would be used for another unlikely Nintendo toy designed by Gunpei Yokoi: Chiritori (Japanese for “dustpan”).
Radio controlled cleaner Chiritori (無線クリーナー チリトリー)
The toy was also referred to as "無線クリーナー", which means "radio (controlled) cleaner".
Cover page of the manual
Chiritori was released in 1979, and retailed for ¥5,800. It did not become a big seller and was produced in relatively small numbers, making it one of the rarer Nintendo toys and very difficult to find these days.
Chiritori is a remote controlled, battery operated mini vacuum cleaner. It measures a mere 16 centimeters across, with a small fan providing dust-sucking action. Although it can actually vacuum, this is not intended for serious cleaning. It would take you all day to do a single room.
Chiritori comes with a radio controller with a single button.
Both Chiritori and controller have small antennae for radio communication (using the 40.680 MHz band).
Also included is a sheet of stickers, which can be used to customize the body of Chiritori.
Sticker sheet provided with Chiritori
When switched on by turning the big white button on the top, Chiritori starts spinning in place (always clockwise). Press the button on the remote controller and it stops spinning and moves in a straight line in the direction it was facing when the button was pressed. Release the button on the remote again, and it stops moving forward and reverts back to spinning around. This control system allows Chiritori to be negotiated in any direction, but it is a bit tricky and requires practice.
The front of Chiritori clearly shows the white sucking mouth facing the ground, and the air outlet in the front.
The manual shows how to insert batteries and operate the Chiritori
The Chiritori and radio controller are battery operated. The Chiritori requires 4 C cells and a 9 volt block, the controller uses another 9 volt block.
Now if we flip the Chiritori over, we see the two main wheels used to move and a smaller non-motorized wheel providing additional support.
When the tray that collects the gathered dust is removed, the fan is exposed. This fan sucks up the dirt and drops it in the tray.
I am sure that by now you are dying to see it in action. Sit back and witness the video I made of the awesome cleaning power of the Chiritori!
Chiritori's quirkiness ensured an appearance in the of WarioWare games (WarioWare Inc, GBA, 2003). Check out the video below (by YouTube user oODiAbLoSOo).
As an aside: while writing this post I was plagued by yet another romanization question: I would expect "チリトリー" to be written as "Chiritori" or "Chiritorii", but Nintendo themselves write it as "Chiritorie" in WarioWare. Strange.
