- The Kokuyo Energy Line replaces discrete power outlets with a continuous slot that can accommodate up to five two-pin plugs anywhere along its length
- It won a 2025 Good Design Award thanks to its accessibility, style and attention to detail
- 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, although it operates a public “live office” where users can test hardware in a workplace, in addition to HOWS DESIGN, an inclusive design program that has spawned several successes.
The Kokuyo Energy Line power rail is one such offering: it comes with a Good Design Award (2025) and is influenced by the HOWS DESIGN program.
A power strip that combines focus on design, functionality
Modern desks are a far cry from their older, mundane alternatives in the workplace or at home, offering a degree of customization that few could have foreseen.
Amid all the upgrades seen in monitor arms, cable management, power desks and even headphone stands, one thing often remains an aesthetic (and often functional) outlier: the modern power strip.
Kokuyo Energy Line aims to solve this by offering a single continuous outlet that can accommodate up to 5 appliances, with a plug-anywhere design and wires hidden under the table via a minimalist clamp.
It also utilizes an inclusive design that allows users with limb disabilities to easily use it with one hand, as demonstrated during the company’s inclusive design workshop at its “HOWS PARK” diversity office.
The Kokuyo Energy Line costs around 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 progress made, the Kokuyo Energy Line also comes with its limitations: the design means it cannot accommodate powerful appliances, with a limit of 5 devices and a 1500W power ceiling, which may leave users using high-end computers or multi-monitor setups looking for something else.
Unlike competing power strips, it also lacks a surge protector or ground connection, limiting its use to electronics that use a 2-pin cable.
With no support for 230V power cables or sockets and no plans to incorporate them at the moment, the Kokuyo Energy Line is an impressive but geographically limited power rail offering that suits the corporate target audience looking for an aesthetic upgrade, albeit with serious limitations that could see it out of play for more demanding consumers in terms of sockets and/or power.
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