Curioblog; unusual gifts, gadgets and curiosities blog

I want more cans!

The canned food fad in Japan is unstoppable. The most original and interesting products are found in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood. Why is that?

A hungry Japanese man

That’s just the way it is. If you want to find the most sophisticated canned food in Japan – and in the world- you’ll have to visit Akihabara, a Mecca for Otakus. In Japan there are vending machines everywhere, but in this neighborhood you’ll find something special: the freakiest, most interesting and surprising canned goods.

In addition to those with manga comics on their labels, you can buy cans with pictures of girls from theMaid Café’s, cans of noodles with a picture of Hello Kitty dressed as a waitress, ¨Oden¨ packages with a portrait of Bill Gates that were launched to celebrate when Windows Vista came out.

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on 20 Nov 2008 by Ayumi Nakai in Japanese Culture	Comments Send this to a friend

I’m tempted to open those cans!

In Japan, the world of canned food offers a great deal of variety. You can find very sophisticated canned food on any supermarket’s shelves.

Cans with photos of waitresses from Maid Café’s

Japan is one of the countries with the most varied selection of canned foodstuff. Years ago, eating canned food was synonymous of malnutrition and cans contained food that was preserved using thousands of additives and artificial colors. In other words, canned food was: emergency food.

But gastronomy has reinvented itself… and so has canned food. Its quality has improved noticeably, to the point that it has become a luxury good.

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on 20 Nov 2008 by Ayumi Nakai in Japanese Culture	Comments Send this to a friend

Giant Kuuki-hou

Air Canon Built Out of 10-Meter Tall Cardboard Box in Japan

The “he” button

A program called “Trivia no izumi” (“Hey! Spring of Trivia” in English) used to air on Japanese TV up until a few years ago. The show would present a series of useless, miscellaneous, and unnecessary factsfrom around the world. Unnecessary and absurd… maybe. But they were also fun, anecdotal facts you’d want to tell all your friends about.

Viewers took part in the show by sending in topics, while the program investigated whether they were true or not.

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on 19 Nov 2008 by Ayumi Nakai in Japanese videos	Comments Send this to a friend

Icoon, Communicates through Images

Icoon is a passport-sized illustrated dictionary that contains photos and drawings to help travelers communicate without any problems.

How do you say coconut in Russian? Just point.

This 78 page pink book is the invention that travelers who don’t speak languages have been awaiting for years. It’s a dictionary that uses the most universal of languages: images. Its pages are filled with drawings, illustrations and photographs so that travelers can point to them. This way, they won’t go crazy trying to ask for a room with a shower in India, an electrical converter in Japan or a fruit salad in Madagascar.

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on 17 Nov 2008 by Marta Reig in Unusual gifts	Comments Send this to a friend

Alarm Clocks that’ll Get You Out of Bed

With these alarm clocks, you’ll wake up with a smile. They’re perfect for people who hate getting up early.

USB Blender alarm clock

Gun O’Clock, shoot it to shut it off
You’ll look forward to having it go off every morning so you can shoot at it from your bed and stop its infernal noise. When the alarm goes off, a tiny shooting target unfolds that you’ll have to hit from your bed with a pistol so the alarm will stop ringing. Repeat this several times, until you finally decide to get up and turn it off.

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on 14 Nov 2008 by Marta Reig in Unusual gifts	Comments Send this to a friend

Black Drawings

Don’t limit children’s imagination.

This video is a television advertisement made by the Japan Advertising Council (AC), a non-profit organization founded by various private companies in Japan.

This foundation is dedicated to creating ads with a message that make people think and address issues such as the environment, drugs, problems within the family, etc.

In this ad a teacher tells students to draw anything that comes to mind.

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on 14 Nov 2008 by Ayumi Nakai in Japanese videos	Comments Send this to a friend

I Can’t Find the Bananas Anywhere!

In Japanese supermarkets, products that are part of health food fads are quickly sold out. This year it’s the banana.

Cover of the famous book

Why aren’t there any bananas at the supermarket?

Something interesting happened at Japanese supermarkets and food shops towards the end of September 2008: bananas started selling out rapidly. Orders would arrive and hours later not a single banana would be left on the shelves. Bananas had suddenly become trendy all over the country. Why did this happen?

There’s an explanation, and it requires traveling back to October 2006, when Mr.

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on 12 Nov 2008 by Ayumi Nakai in Japanese Culture	Comments Send this to a friend

Domokun, The Little Japanese Monster that Eats Cats

This square shaped, mean-looking meatball is a friendly monster that’s become famous thanks to the Internet

He’s so cute

Where have I seen this doll? If you spend whole days sitting in front of the computer, you may be asking yourself this question, because this chicken McNugget shaped monster has become famous the world over thanks to the Internet. Many people have used its image to attract traffic and comments to their blogs: “I’ll eat a kitten for each comment you make” or “If you read without commenting, I’ll eat a kitten”.

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on 11 Nov 2008 by Marta Reig in Japanese Culture	Comments Send this to a friend

The eternal lack of a good night’s sleep

It’s up to you to make sure you get a few extra minutes of sleep

Don’t fall asleep!

Workdays in the 21st Century would no doubt have made a 19th Century English miner want to strike.

This work-centered lifestyle has reached its utmost expression in Japan, where, aside from inventing gadgets to get a few minute’s of sleep on every imaginable occasion, they’ve also coined the phrase death by overwork: karōshi. We don’t just work too many hours, we also refuse to give up staying out late on weekdays, and the result is that we end up sleeping fewer and fewer hours and sleep deprivation haunts us like our worst nightmare.

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on 10 Nov 2008 by Natalia Latina in Gadgets, inventions and prototypes	Comments Send this to a friend

Ways of Life

From miniscule studios to urban nomadism

Everything fits on a pallet: follow the snail’s example

Another option for those who can’t afford mortgage payments is to move into a studio built for the Three Little Pigs: those impossible apartments of laughable dimensions. Although public authorities have promoted this awful way of life, it’s designers with their ingenious proposals that have given a little dignity back to urbanites forced to turn into ants.

Two students from the Köln International School of Design have developed the revolutionary concept Casulo.

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on 10 Nov 2008 by Natalia Latina in Art, design and architecture	Comments Send this to a friend

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12 Jun 2013

TU BLOG ES GENIAL

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12 Jun 2013

i love micro pet-i

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10 Jun 2013

aun se consigue?

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08 Jun 2013

a good work

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