Blog reader Mayur Misra forwarded us a chain email featuring ads for various Japanese products with the subject line “Only in Japan.”
Are such products too weird to take hold in the U.S.? Remember that the Walkman, the great cassette-tape ancestor of portable CD players and iPods, also started out as one of those wacky Japanese inventions.
Frompocketcalculatorshow.com
During this economic downturn, might the success of a strange — some say embarrassing — U.S. invention, the Snuggie, be an indication that people are more open to a quirky product if it saves them money (heating bills, in the case of the Snuggie)? At a time when fewer people can afford housekeepers, maybe this is the next recession must-have:
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these are crazy creations, but just think about everything we see on infomercials. How many times did you say I wish I thought of that as you were getting ready to go to work? Everything is a result of a need-as crazy as that need may be.
As consumers, Japanese people have a very different relationship to capitalism and products than we do in the U.S. Sometimes I think that the sense that the money you make is yours is stronger in the U.S. There are numerous high fees that Japanese people pay that would cause a lot of protest here. The reaction to consumer products is also opposite, something that is appealing to aesthetics will win over practicality. An item that is cute, makes you laugh, or is simply a hot trend will bring more personal value than an item that is simply practical. Practicality is not seen as something to be purchased since you can always find ways to be practical with what you have. Take a look at a basic table set up. The plates on a Japanese table will be a variety of shapes and sizes and won’t match. Portions may be tiny. Even with food the aesthetics are considered just as filling as the portion size.
You got taken in on this one. These are all joke items. Only in Japan would you find such irony.
With that baby crawler rug patches who needs a Roomba?
I guess it works well in those tiny Japanese apartments.
As I lived in Japan for 7 years, I can assure you, as a previous reader said, these are Chindogu, with the exception of the pillow that was available in the stores since 2006 it I remember correctly.
Snuggies….again.
Mention one , get one free, I guess.
These are all jokes. I’ve seen those exact photos in a book of “useless inventions” years and years ago. The idea is that they should be useful in that they solve a problem, but useless in that no one would ever use them. These are definitely not popular in japan or anywhere else. As I recall one of the requirements for being in the book was that you couldn’t actually be selling the product or making any money from it, they were supposed to be useless prototypes. There are probably sequels to that book now; people buy them for laughs.
Need that Baby Mop! (Do they also make one that your dog can wear…?)