Designer of Palin's glasses grateful for publicity

TOKYO -- The Japanese designer of the clear-rim glasses worn by Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is grateful for the attention she is drawing to his creation, yet he remains politically neutral.

"She is very good-looking. She would look good in any glasses," Kazuo Kawasaki said Wednesday while visiting a Tokyo store for Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co., which makes the glasses.

Kawasaki says he shares what he sees as some common political sentiments with Palin, Republican John McCain's running mate. "I am quite right-wing," he says.

At the same time, Kawasaki admits to an affinity with McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama. Kawasaki's former students at workshops for local governments and other regional groups are among the residents of central Japan's Fukui Prefecture, which has a city called Obama. They have started a community movement supporting the Democrat, although none of them can vote in the U.S. election.

"Whether it becomes Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain, I want to ask him to build peace in the international order," Kawasaki says.

The clear-rim MP-704 glasses, made of super-light and non-allergenic metal called titanium, have become all the rage for their high-profile visibility atop the 44-year-old Alaska governor's nose.

Masunaga Optical Manufacturing, based in Fukui, usually makes 12,000 MP-704 glasses in a year and a half. Thanks to Palin, it has already received 9,000 global orders, mostly from the U.S., in the last 10 days, says Masunaga store chief Akira Nagayama.

The glasses don't need screws, instead using a thin metal strip similar to a paper clip to attach the lens to the frame, offering a clearer view for the wearer, Nagayama says.

Masunaga, which racks up $19 million in annual sales, including glasses from other designers, sells Kawasaki's MP-704 in the U.S. through Italee Optics Inc., a Los Angeles distributor. They cost about $400 in the U.S.

Kawasaki, 59, an engineering professor at Osaka University, also designs arty syringes, artificial hearts, kitchen sponges and wheelchairs -- including the one he uses because of a traffic accident 30 years ago. The award-winning designer also has contributed to the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Kawasaki has seen his glasses on celebrities before, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell and actress Whoopi Goldberg. But he has never gotten the stunning reception he has enjoyed since Palin started wearing the glasses.

"I want to say, 'Thank you,' to Ms. Palin," he said with a smile. "I want people to realize how fantastic Made in Japan technology can be."