Unco Shop – Japan’s Unique Poop-Themed Shop
Located in Yokohama, Japan, Unco Shop specializes in producing and selling poop-themed apparel like T-shirts and sneakers, jewelry, accessories and more. Poop-themed apparel and accessories are not that uncommon in souvenir shops, but did you there is a Japanese shop that only sells this kind of product? Named after the Japanese word for poop, ‘unco’, […]
Mysterious Geyser in Japan Has Been Gushing Out Water for Two Weeks
A mysterious geyser that erupted in the middle of a forest on the Japanese island of Hokkaido has been shooting up columns of water up to 40-meters-high for the past couple of weeks. Every year, on August 9, the small Japanese town of Oshamambe holds an annual summer festival complete with a traditional procession at […]
Japanese Convenience Stores Introduce AI-Powered Shelf-Stocking Robots
Family Mart, Japan’s second-largest convenience store chain, recently started using AI-powered robots to restock shelves, as a way to deal with the country’s fast-shrinking workforce. The decline in labor population is one of the biggest threats to businesses operating in Japan, and some have already started looking for ways to replace human workers. Case in […]
Potato Chip Maker Launches Hilarious Finger Washing Machine
Lays, the world’s bestselling potato chip brand, recently launched a limited edition miniature washing machine for oily fingertips. Let’s face it, there are few things in the world more addictive than potato chips, but if there’s one thing everyone hates about them – apart from getting us fat – it’s the grease they leave on […]
Innovative Myopia-Curing Glasses Go On Sale for a Mere $5,700
Kubota Glass, an allegedly revolutionary pair of glasses capable of curing people of myopia, aka nearsightedness, has recently gone on sale in Japan for a whopping $5,700. We originally wrote about Kubota Glass in January of 2021, when Kubota Pharmaceutical first announced that it had come up with a non-invasive way of reversing the effects […]
DIY Master Creates His Own Glow-in-the Dark Magic Book on the Cheap
A Japanese DIY prop enthusiast recently shared his latest creation – an otherworldly-looking magic book with glow-in-the dark text – along with instructions on how to do it yourself. Last month, Twitter user @mikel_cresson, a steampunk and fantasy enthusiast from Japan, went viral on the popular social network with a very intriguing prop – a […]
Self-Taught Mom Creates Exquisite Anime-Inspired Lunchbox Art
Classic bento box arrangement can be considered an art form in itself, but there are some artistically gifted people that can take it to a whole other level. Bento box art, aka kyaraben, is a big deal in Japan, so big in fact that it has its own social media platform where professional and amateur […]
Japanese Robotics Company Creates Humanoid Heavy Machinery
A Japanese robotics company has been getting a lot of attention for its unique heavy machinery – a humanoid industrial robot that can be remote controlled by a human. With so much focus on artificial intelligence and concepts like ‘the singularity’, we sometimes forget that robots have been around for a long time and that […]
Sing Like a Pro With Japan’s Weirdest Karaoke Training Device Yet
If you love karaoke, but can never hit the right notes of your favorite songs, don’t despair! Apparently, all you need to do is use a weird karaoke training device for just three minutes per day, and you’re all set. Karaoke is really big in Japan. Few people know that the pastime enjoyed internationally by […]
Japanese Craftsman Creates Animal-Inspired Mechanical Transformers
Yuki Tsuboshima, a metalworking artist from Japan, specializes in ingeniously-designed, mechanical sculptures that turn into different shapes, like little Transformers. As a child, Yuki Tsuboshima was fascinated by puzzle-like toys with movable parts and intricate mechanisms, and he never really outgrew this passion. He majored in metalworking, specializing in uchidashi, a traditional Japanese metalworking technique […]
Bottled Water Jelly – A New Way to Cool Off This Summer
If you don’t like the watery texture of water, you may want to try to keep yourself hydrated with some water jelly, a new hit summer product from Japan. I’m too old to spend time on TikTok, but every once in a while I deep dive down a rabbit hole only to find the craziest […]
Japanese Company Develops Special Hair Dye for Eyelashes as Alternative to Mascara
Shiseido, a Japanese company specializing in beauty products has reportedly developed a type of hair dye for human eyelashes as an alternative to mascara. When it comes to making their natural eyelashes stand out, women usually turn to mascara, a thick mixture of water, wax, oils and pigments that adheres to the lashes making each […]
Chichibugahama – Japan’s Instafamous Mirror Beach
Chichibugahama Beach is a popular tourist destination in Mitoyo City, Japan which rose to fame thanks to photo-sharing social media platforms like Instagram. If you ever find ourself doubting the power of social media, just remember the story of Chichibugahama Beach. A once obscure seaside destination in Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture, this place turned into a […]
Kaketsugi – Japan’s Invisible Cloth Mending Technique
Kaketsugi – literally ‘invisible mending’ in Japanese – is an amazing cloth mending technique from Japan that involves repairing damaged cloth to the point where you can’t even tell it was ever damaged. With fast fashion being more popular than ever, cloth mending isn’t nearly as necessary as it once was. Got a tear in […]
Japanese Companies Develop Upright ‘Nap Boxes’ for Office Workers
Two Japanese companies are teaming up to produce upright ‘nap boxes’ that they claim will help solve the Asian country’s notorious overwork problem. Tokyo-based furniture specialist Itoki Corporation and Koyoju Gohan, a plywood supplier from Hokkaido, recently signed a license agreement to start production of a bizarre-looking contraption that they claim will tackle the overwork […]