Tag: BIG IN JAPAN

If you're the sort of man who has a certain penchant for lady's clothing, and we don't mean helping your wife or girlfriend find a pair of jeans at JC Penney, you may be interested in a hot new product currently available in Japan. It is, quite simply, a bra made for men, and if you like that you'll love the company's other products. The bras are exclusively available at Rakuten's WishRoom Shop, ...

Several videos of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police using seemingly excessive force on demonstrators are getting thousands of hits on YouTube, with one clip surpassing the 100,000 mark. Last month, around 40 protesters gathered outside the house of Prime Minister Taro Aso on behalf of the country's "working poor," the approximate 10 million citizens who make less than $20,000. The most popular ...

Not sure if this is going to be helpful or a total flop, but a new device called Rain Wipe from Japan is being marketed to stores for display at their entrances. It essentially removes rainwater from wet umbrellas by absorbing the water with a cloth, and then uses pressure to push the water to a tray toward the bottom to keep things tidy. If you're keeping score at home, each tray only needs to ...

Keyboard comfort is something most people don't think about, but are glad to have. Ergonomic keyboards that place your hands in the proper typing position have been on the market for years. Now, temperature control is part of the program if you put this Thanko USB keyboard (equipped with built-in cooler and heater) on your desk. It may be a little bulky, but that's to accommodate the three -- ...

Why do we not learn our lesson? First, we created bionic chimps. Now, as can see in the above video, we're training chimps to ride Segways. What's next -- a motorized cavalry of android apes? Okay, maybe we're getting all worked up over nothing. It's just a Japanese TV show, right? (One thing's for sure -- if they ever do a third remake of 'Planet of the Apes,' they'll all be riding Segways.) ...

Move over Aibo, take a seat, creepy humanoid robot doll, Pekoppa has arrived! Sega's eagerly anticipated nodding robotic plant is finally here, at least in Japan, though we expect that it will soon be turning up in children's bedrooms and on the window sills of retirement homes stateside, delighting the immature and the elderly with its fantastic capacity to acknowledge that it is listening/ ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2008/10/02/worlds-weirdest-new-phones/'; We've just spent the past three days at CEATEC, the Japanese consumer electronics show, where some of the world's most innovative -- and sometimes outlandish -- prototype gadgets are unveiled. Cell phones are extremely popular in Japan, which is probably why the show floor was filled with plenty of newfangled ...

Elderly? Enfeebled? Just plain clumsy? Tokyo-based Prop has your back. Its newly announced personal, wearable airbag looks like a cool fanny-pack and weighs a mere 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) -- but springs forth in one-tenth of a second when sensors detect you're headed for the floor, protecting your head and ass with two inflated bags that contain 3.9 gallons of gas each. Similar to the ...

It may be a little tough for some of us to grasp, but the latest fad among Japanese girls is the 'virtual boyfriend.' Within two weeks of launching, virtual boyfriend site Webkare (Japanese for 'Web boyfriend') already boasts over 10,000 members and over 3.5 million page views. Webkare is a combination social-networking site and online game in which young Japanese women attempt to hook up with ...

In news that will surely brighten the day of any light-minded individuals out there, Japanese electronics manufacturers KDDI and Kyocera have announced that they've teamed up to create the W64SA, a mobile phone designed to offer "color therapy" to users via embedded LED lights. Or, put another way, a phone that lights up all pretty-like. The lights are available in five different colors, ...

In Japan, even the gods are computer literate. At the Kanda-Myojin Shinto shrine in Tokyo, the faithful have been bringing their computers in for some tech-nical healing: according to a spokesman, the priests use ceremonies to ask the gods for help and protection for their computer, warding off viruses, hard drive failures, and generally buggery (not the pornographic kind). Certainly by no ...

One of the things that many camera phone users do is disable that annoying faux-shutter sound that is emitted whenever a picture is taken. In Japan, though, disabling that sound is often not possible -- not because Japanese mobile companies like to annoy their customers, says Japanese tech reporter Nobuyuki Hayashi, but because silent camera phones are all too often used to take pictures up the ...

As we recall, our early school years were not that fun. We got in trouble for asking to go to the bathroom and were made to do timed math problems next to the kid who always got nosebleeds. Sometimes we feigned illness so we could stay home and watch 'Treasure Island' and play 'Ninja Turtles' on Super Nintendo. Nintendo has come a long way since then. And so has school!? Maybe... The Japanese ...

Cell phones are borderline indispensable these days. They're fully integrated into most of our lives, becoming essential emergency communication tools. Their little cameras make capturing impromptu moments easy, and their data capabilities let you check your e-mail or surf the Web on the go. And soon, in Japan at least, your cell phone will be able to even make your pad smell better. It's ...

Korg and AQ Interactive are developing Korg MS-10 -- a portable version of the vintage music synthesizer, designed specifically for the Nintendo DS. It's a synth, drum machine, and sequencer, all controlled with the DS stylus and touch screen. For those who want stats (from the official Web site): In addition to the two analog synth simulators and drum module, a 6-track/16-step sequencer ...