Is this a cheap way to beat away stress, or a case of cheaping out that’ll have us feeling even more frustrated?

Pretty much every time we walk through a branch of 100 yen shop Daiso, we find something we didn’t know we needed, but are now keenly aware is a necessity. Cute coffee mug? Yeah, that’ll brighten up our day. Stackable storage boxes? A well-organized home or office is always a plus. Something to punch, kick, and otherwise wail on when we’re feeling stressed out? Yeah, better pick up that too.

That last one might not sound like typical Daiso inventory, but it’s exactly what our Japanese-language writer Natsuno Futon came home with from her latest shopping trip.

The Stress Relief Punching Bag-For Adult is actually one of Daiso’s premium products, costing 550 yen (US$3.40). That’d still be a bargain if it actually does reduce stress, though. On the other hand, if Daiso’s punching bag doesn’t “bounce right back up” like the packaging claims it does or is otherwise shoddily made, then you’ll just be spending money to have even more stress by buying it, so Natsuno is here to tell us if it actually does the job it promises to.

The bag comes uninflated, and a hand pump isn’t included, so you’ll either need to procure one separately or have some very strong lungs.

Don’t start pumping/blowing right away, though. In order to keep the punching bag planted on the ground and able to spring back up, first you need to fill the base with water.

If you start pumping without filling the base, the inflation process is going to be a lot harder, as Natsuno unintentionally discovered when she failed to notice this part of the instructions.

Once the bag is properly filled with water and air, it stands 110 centimeters (43.3 inches) tall. For comparison, here it is next to Natsuno, who herself has a height of 158 centimeters.

▼ And here’s Natsuno cradling it like a baby, showing it some tenderness before she starts beating the heck out of it.

After setting the bag down and putting up her dukes, Natsuno started swinging…

…and was happy to find that the Daiso punching bag really does bounce back quickly enough to keep up with her flurry of fists!

We should note that Natsuno is not a trained pugilist, and so there might be a difference in rhythm compared to the sort of gear used by professional boxers or martial artists. As a piece of casual home workout/stress relief equipment, though, she’s got no complaints about the bag’s resilience.

You’ll notice that the bag has “uppercut,” “jab,” and “straight” written on it. These are all types of punches, but with her fighting spirit now burning, Natsuno decided to give it a few swift kicks too.

This felt incredibly satisfying, even more so than the punches she’d thrown.

As a matter of fact, kicking is listed as one of the officially intended uses of the bag…

…and is actually, Natsuno feels, the best way to use it. At 110 centimeters tall, the bag can handle the height of foot strikes pretty well (assuming you’re not doing cyclone spin kicks on it). But since the bag is shorter than most adults’ shoulders, if you want to punch it straight-on, you’re going to have to squat down pretty low.

With that in mind, it might be more accurate to call Daiso’s Stress Relief Punching Bag-For Adult the Stress Relief Kicking Bag-For Adult, but semantic quibbles aside, Natsuno is happy to have a way to knock her stress away.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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