Only In Japan

Oct 04
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Only In Japan: Toilet Motorcycle Runs On… Ahem… Waste

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via spoon-tamago. Toto is Japan’s biggest toilet bowl making company… Now the company just released its first hybrid toilet-motorcycle that runs entirely on… poop. As the person drives, he can poop into a bowl, and that poop will be turned into fuel for the car. It is actually part of a campaign that Toto is running in an effort to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% in the next 6 years. The motorcycle (and driver) will make its way from Kyushu to Tokyo over the next month. How ridiculous!? More photos below.

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Sep 28
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Only In Japan: Pregnancy Simulator for Men

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The Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan recently unveiled this pregnancy simulator for men called the “Mommy Tummy” which simulates baby weight, allows the father to feel the baby kicking, rolling around in the womb, and gradually increases the size of the abdomen and breast regions over time to mimic the body changes experienced over a nine month period. The simulation lasts for approximately 2 minutes… Check out the video below.

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Sep 26
0

Only In Japan: The ‘Levitating’ Girl

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via mymodernmet. This is pretty cool! More photos after the break.

Natsumi Hayashi is a sweet-looking Japanese girl who, one day, decided to take self-portraits… of herself levitating. She can be spotted in and around Tokyo, equipped with her SLR and her self-timer. When she feels the moment strike, she presses the shutter button down and then, quite literally, “jumps” into place.

What I love most about her shots is that they don’t feel forced. Natsumi has a way of making us feel as though she naturally levitates throughout life.

When I asked her how others react to her jumping around Tokyo, here is a funny story that she shared. “One day, when I was jumping at a famous sightseeing spot in western Tokyo, workers at a souvenir shop were frightened by how I was jumping. They were whispering things like ‘Is the girl mentally ill’ and ‘Do we need to call the police?’

“So I stopped jumping and apologized to them by saying, ‘I am taking jumping photos for my wedding party’s slide show.’ Their faces turned bright red, and they said things like ‘Oh dear!’ and ‘Congratulations!’ and even ‘Keep jumping!’

“Then, I took one of the best levitation shots of the entire series.”

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Jun 20
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Only In Japan: Sega To Release The ‘Toylet’ Video Game

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Haha… I did not take it seriously when I read about it a few months ago, but Sega is introducing a video game system called “Toylet” that will be playable in the urinal stalls of public bathrooms. The system will go on sale in Japan in November at a price of $1,850.

The system has an infared sensor that sees the approach of a person and sets the screen to game ready display. Then microwaves hit the stream of **ahem** urine to detect its speed, volume, and duration, which is used as a controller for the game. Of course direction plays a part as well. Check out the video after the break. (may be NSFW if you consider a naked statue to be not safe for work).

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Jun 17
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Only In Japan: Sewage Mud Used To Make ‘Meat’ Substitute

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Japanese scientist Mitsuyuki Ikeda has come up with a way to create “fake” meat from sewage… apparently, his process involves taking the sewage, extracting the protein, adding a reaction enhancer, and putting it through an “exploder”. The “fake” meat or meat substitute is great for the environment and has less fat than regular meat, and is made up of 63% proteins (including the addition of soy protein), 25% carbohydrates, 9% minerals, and 3% lipids. Apparently the bacteria in the sewage is harmless because it is killed by heat during the manufacturing process… The only question is… would you really eat this crap (pun intended) knowing how it’s made? Gross… Video after the break.

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Jun 17
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Only In Japan: Spill Lifter (Part 2)

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You may have seen my previous entry regarding the Japanese spill lifter called “SWITL”… Here is more footage of this product from Japan’s Food Machinery & Technology Exhibition… this thing is amazing! If you are a neat freak, definitely looks like it’s worth the purchase. Video after the jump.

The SWITL sheet is wrapped around a sliding plate, and it’s fixed at one side while the plate moves, so items can be loaded and unloaded without altering relative positions. Currently, the sheet is made of Teflon.

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Jun 10
0

Only In Japan: Spherical Drone Spyball

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A video of a flying spherical reconnaissance drone developed by Japan’s military – the device makes for quite a spectacle. Video below.

The unit officially goes under the prosaic name of “spherical flight vehicle,” having been developed as a prototype miniature drone.

It is 42cm in diameter, 350g in weight and can fly for some 8 minutes, being capable of reaching speeds of 60km/h. Autopilot systems are said to be under development.

Interestingly, the developers report “buying most of the parts in Akihabara.”

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