- Kokuyo Energy Line replaces discrete sockets with one continuous slot that takes up to five two-prong plugs anywhere along its length
- It won a 2025 Good Design Award thanks to its accessibility, style, and attention to detail
- The Kokuyo Energy Line also offers an inclusive design that allows users with upper limb disabilities to easily use the product with just 1 hand
Kokuyo is a well-known Japanese furniture giant that focuses on both functionality and aesthetics across its furniture and interior design lines.
It regularly collects Good Design Awards even as it runs a public “live office” where users can test out hardware in a workplace setting, in addition to HOWS DESIGN, an inclusive-design program that has birthed multiple successes.
The Kokuyo Energy Line power strip is one such offering: it comes with a Good Design Award (2025) and is influenced by the HOWS DESIGN program.
A power strip that blends focus on design, functionality
Modern work desks are a far cry from their older, mundane alternatives at the workplace or at home, offering a degree of customizability that few could have foreseen.
Amid all the upgrades one sees in monitor arms, cable management, electric desks, and even headphone stands, one thing often remains an aesthetic (and often functional) outlier: the modern power strip.
The Kokuyo Energy Line aims to fix this by offering a single continuous power socket that can house up to 5 appliances, with a plug-anywhere design and wiring concealed under the table via a minimalist clamp.
It also leverages an inclusive design that allows users with limb disabilities to use it easily with one hand, as demonstrated during the company’s inclusive design workshop at its “HOWS PARK” diversity office.
The Kokuyo Energy Line clocks in at about 7,000 Yen (~$50) and comes in both black and white colors to suit different themes. It aims to eliminate cable clutter on one’s desk with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Despite the advances made, the Kokuyo Energy Line also comes with its limitations: the design means it does not accommodate heavy-duty appliances, with a 5-device limit and a 1500W power ceiling, which may leave users who use high-end computers or multi-monitor setups looking for something different.
Unlike competing power strips, it also lacks a surge protector or grounding support, which limits its use to electronics that use a 2-prong cable.
With no support for 230V power cables or sockets and no plans currently to incorporate them, the Kokuyo Energy Line is an impressive but geographically limited power strip offering that suits the company’s target audience looking for an aesthetic upgrade, albeit with serious limitations that could see it not be in play for more demanding consumers in terms of sockets and/or power.
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