Zipangu Unzipped
Ahh, Japan... land of the rising sun, rising sin, and rice with nearly every meal. In Japan everything is possible and possibly everything is available - often with a unique and unexpected twist. Vending machines dispensing whiskey, meat, live rhinoceros beetles or schoolgirl panties? Where else but in Japan, where urban legends live and die on streets that have no names. As the Japanese Innovations Writer for InventorSpot.com and an unabashed Japanophile, I take great joy in channeling the relentless tsunami of on-the-edge Japanese ideas and products, each wondrous one revisiting and reinventing 1950s Japanese Transistor Radio Syndrome for the post-atomic age!



Vye Mini-v S41... Very Little Laptop with Very Big Features (May 8)

Want to make a MacBook Air owner jealous? Just plunk the new Vye Mini-v S41 laptop on your, er, laptop. Then open the Super Multi DVD Drive and listen for the audible gasp...

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Wear Your Dearly Departed Pet as a Diamond Ring (May 7)

It's the ultimate Pet Rock. A Japanese company specializing in crafting memorials to passed-on pets can transform your faithful furry friend into a true jewel of denial - a glittering diamond ring or pendant.

Technorati Tags: Art and Design Boomers Health Innovation Invention Lifestyle News Pets Science Weird or Wacky


Bizarre Breast Puddings From Japan (May 6)

From the "Only In Japan" file comes Sweet Breast Pudding - twin rounded mounds of jiggling, milk-flavored pudding topped with a cherry or vanilla "nipple". Even stranger (if that's possible), this sensual, sexual snack features girls from various Japanese cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama. Collect the whole set!

Technorati Tags: Art and Design Food and Drink Fun International Marketing Men Products Sex Weird or Wacky Women


Hello Kitty Laptop, the Cuter Computer (May 4)

With the new 'Hello Kitty EPSON wide note' laptop computer, Sanrio's queen of cute continues her relentless conquest of the computing world. The feature-packed model offers two color schemes to appeal to Hello Kitty fans of all ages.

Technorati Tags: Art and Design Children Computers Gadgets Home Marketing News Products Women


Japanese Face Cream Made From Nightingale Droppings (May 4)

A traditional Japanese beauty treatment made from nightingale droppings - yes, bird poo - is helping Japan's women look as clean and fresh as can be. Just don't tell their husbands...

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Feeling Down? Pop Right In For An Intravenous Pick-Me-Up! (May 1)

The Tenteki10 drop-in clinic invites stressed-out Tokyo denizens to pop by for a 10-minute pick-me-up... delivered through an intravenous drip!

Technorati Tags: Fitness Health International Lifestyle News Science Weird or Wacky Work


Coffee Clash - Look Out Starbucks, Here Comes McCafé! (Apr 30)

If your impression of McDonalds is wall-to-wall plastic, "fries with that?" and a garish clown named Ronald, then you've never enjoyed coffee at a McCafé. Which is precisely what McDonalds has in mind. Be afraid, Starbucks, be VERY afraid!

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'Kenny Blankenship' of MXC Featured on Novelty Tissue Box (Apr 27)

Remember Kenny Blankenship? You know, Vic Romano's girl-chasing, hard-partying sidekick on Spike TV's overdubbed laugh-fest MXC? Today, "Kenny" is the governor of a Japanese province... let the most extreme marketing campaign begin!

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Luxury Bach Miso Sounds Good, Tastes Great! (Apr 27)

Call it "food that bites Bach"... Bahha no Yuraku Kyoichiraku miso made by Marujyu, a Japanese food manufacturer, owes its excellent taste to the music of J.S. Bach pumped into miso fermentation chambers. At least, that's the tune they're playing.

Technorati Tags: Food and Drink Health Home International Lifestyle Miscellaneous Products


Fixing Broken Hearts With Menstrual Blood (Apr 26)

Could "the curse" become the cure? It could happen, if Japanese scientists have their way. Experiments performed at the Keio University school of medicine have succeeded in growing sheets of heart muscle from connective tissue cells harvested from menstrual blood.

Technorati Tags: Health International Miscellaneous News Science Weird or Wacky Women