Redefining the compact long wallet.

Making a long wallet smaller.
At first glance, this idea seems rational.
However, there's a pitfall in its premise.

Convergence to a 10,000-yen bill size

Even with the advance of cashless payments, many people still choose long wallets. They offer the ability to store bills without folding them, high visibility of contents, and an elegant way to retrieve items. These are attractive features not found in bi-fold wallets.

A trend emerged to make these long wallets smaller to suit the times. The chosen answer was the idea of "making them closer to the size of a 10,000-yen bill." This involves trimming unnecessary parts and minimizing external dimensions. At first glance, it seems rational.

However, this idea overlooks a problem.

Cards cannot be arranged within a 10,000-yen bill size

A 10,000-yen bill measures 160×76mm. What happens if you try to arrange two cards here?

Whether placed vertically or horizontally, you cannot arrange two cards without them overlapping. No matter where you place them, there will always be a central "strip where all cards overlap."

Even if you disperse the cards to the left and right, you cannot escape this band. The same applies to three or four cards. As long as it's a long wallet the size of a 10,000-yen bill, all cards will inevitably overlap in the center.

This is not a problem that can be avoided with ingenuity. It is a dimensional inevitability.

A "small long wallet" fundamentally cannot avoid being thick.

If storage capacity is reduced, the purpose of a long wallet disappears

If you try to reduce thickness, storage capacity will be sacrificed.

However, if you only need to store a few cards, there's no need to insist on a long wallet. A small, thin bi-fold wallet like the Hitoe® Fold offers superior portability and convenience.

A long wallet that has been made smaller by reducing its storage capacity negates the very reason for choosing a long wallet.

Rephrasing the question

The question "How to make a long wallet smaller?" cannot solve this problem.
As long as the starting point is to shrink the external dimensions, thickness is inevitable.

"What should a long wallet be like?"

Rephrasing the question changes what you see. The ability to store bills without folding them. The ability to see all contents at a glance. Sufficient storage capacity. These are the conditions that make a long wallet a long wallet.

If these conditions are the starting point, you realize that the problem lies not just in the external dimensions, but in the overlapping of contents.

Structure determines form

Overlap can only be resolved by structure.
That form is the double card pocket, announced in 2019.

It is slightly taller than a 10,000-yen bill size.
However, by dispersing cards to two L-shaped locations, the overlap between cards is halved while maintaining the width of a 10,000-yen bill.
Furthermore, by utilizing the slightly increased height, cards and coins do not overlap.

Not a "small long wallet," but a "small, thin long wallet."
From the idea of shrinking external dimensions to the idea of simultaneously resolving overlap.

Form is born from the question.