Kyoko Ishibashi, Utsunomiya, Japan; Yuko Fukuda, Tochigi, Japan; Yasuyuki Okuda, Utsunomiya, Japan; and Jun Kajiwara, Utsunomiya, Japan.
Assigned to Kao Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.

Filed: 6/21/17
Issued: 6/25/24

An absorbent article having a front portion to be disposed on a front side of a wearer, a rear portion to be disposed on a rear side of the wearer, and a crotch portion located between the front portion and the rear portion, the absorbent article comprising an elasticized portion that is stretchable and contractible in an article lateral direction in at least one of the front portion and the rear portion, wherein the elasticized portion has an outer sheet to be disposed on a side that is away from the skin of the wearer, an inner sheet to be disposed on a side that is closer to the skin of the wearer than the outer sheet is, and a plurality of elastic members that are arranged between the outer and inner sheets in a state in which the elastic members are stretched in the article lateral direction, the outer sheet and the inner sheet are partially joined to each other at a joined region, the joined region is sandwiched between non-joined regions where the outer sheet and the inner sheet are not continuously joined to each other in an article longitudinal direction or the article lateral direction, a plurality of the joined regions and a plurality of the non-joined regions are repeatedly arranged in the article longitudinal direction or the article lateral direction, the outer sheet is configured to be deformable so as to bulge toward a non-skin-facing surface side due to contraction of the elastic members and form a plurality of folds along the article longitudinal direction, and the absorbent article has holes penetrating the outer sheet at positions in the folds formed by the outer sheet, the positions overlapping the elastic members in a thickness direction, wherein the holes are formed in the non joined regions and not in the joined regions.