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I bet most people will change their wishes of owning a large apartment, after seeing the compact building found in Tokyo. Called as “Reflection of Mineral”, the 44 sqm house looks just like a piece of paper art from the outside, but still features the full functionality, including a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom inside it. And the point I love most is the half-open garage on the ground—that’s really a clever way to make efficient use of space. So you’d like one such house, too? Contact with the Japanese architect Yasuhiro Yamashita then.

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Hello, everyone, we’d like to introduce you our new friend, the Nyago Cats, creative robotic toys from Japan’s TakaraTomy. Just keep clapping your hands and these lovely kitties will then start to roll and roll. If you’re considering feeding pets while not planning to spend too much time taking care of them, the Nyago Cats are obviously your best choices. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Memopad and USB seem to be unrelated to each other. But a Japanese company has successfully combined those two things together into the so-called ‘Memopad USB’. It is a 2GB USB flash disk with 100 pieces of scribbling paper for people to take down messages. Sadly the product is only sold in Japan and it is priced at 2680 YEN. [Read the rest of this entry...]

These bed headboards take inspiration from the cloth curtains once commonly used by Japanese shops. Each coming with a pole crossing through several loops, the bed headboards could be easily hung on the wall, creating a different atmosphere. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Made from squid skins, these bottle-shaped cans are possibly the most eco-friendly cans we’ve ever met. If you like them, you can also DIY some at home, too. Firstly, you have to prepare some squids, and stuff them with rice or grain; and then leave them under the sun until they’re totally dried to desired shapes. Hmmm, the rice stored by them also has a squid taste, and that’s really perfect for those who love fishy food.

Nowadays, sushi bars are everywhere and most people love sushi a lot. Surely you don’t have necessary skills to make sushi at home, but did you ever try? So we’ve prepared something especially for you sushi-lovers. It is the Anpanman Bento Machine. Just follow the instruction to place materials into the machine in order, roll it and then you can crank out some edible sushi with cute animal faces. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Hepburn’s masterpiece “Breakfast at Tiffanys” suddenly hit me the moment I saw the Hermes window display, because girls will be completely fascinated by such an advertisement. Tokujin Yoshioka is so clever! An image of woman projected onto a monitor is the main part of the whole display, and when the woman blows on the hanging scarf, it then correspondingly sways in the air. Well, via the display, I’ve somewhat felt the ultra-light, silky texture. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What couldn’t be artistic, if the most common potatoes have been turned into art works? Via a series of portraitures painted on potatoes, the Japanese designer successfully shows us various aspects of human life.

“Why facial expressions are drawn on potatoes”, the designer explained, “is because potatoes seem to be striking similar to human faces. Not only potatoes have uneven skins, and like us, they have different sizes, shapes and forms.” Amazing! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Russians and Japanese astronauts must have loved beer too much that they decided to grow some barley and make some brew. They call that ‘Space Beer’, which has come to us humans on the earth. Japan’s Sapporo Breweries plans to sell six packs of ‘Space Beer’ to merely 250 people in 2010, costing $115-a-pack or about $19-a-bottle. [Read the rest of this entry...]

A Japanese fashion company has launched an innovative collection of suits for white collars that have to wear formal clothes even in hot summers. Just think of the scorching heat! These suits have been designed with some special ice packs, and they really work to cool down the air. Check the pictures below and see how effective they would be, that’s really awesome!

But at present, only people living in Japan have the opportunity to get such a suit, at the cost of 520 dollars. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The paper toy is a latest series launched by the Japanese retailer Muji and the famous toy-maker Lego. It includes a collection of bricks, paper and hole punching tools, therefore allowing the kids to combine them together with their own imagination. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Who says sunglasses merely defend sunlight? The Japanese Self-Defense Force Sunglasses argued that, they still defend 6.55mm-diameter objects at a speed of 171km/h as well as a 500g shaft of iron dropped from 1.27m…wow, cool! What? Do they withstand a speeding bullet? Oh, man, that only happens in the advertisements. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Teruhiro Yanagihara is a space designer from Japan and his greatest passion is to design interior products that go well with the environment. And the table “1915” aims to reveal a specific balance of randomly-placed bars. But why Teruhiro Yanagihara named the table as “1915”? Possibly you can find the answer in the video below. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Japan has been claimed to be one of the most rapidly aging societies all over the world, and in order to help the elderly move around freely, Honda has recently come up with the U3-X, a small and modern unicycle. It runs in the same direction where you lean your weight, at a speed of up to 3.7mph. The U3-X weighs under 22 pounds, and therefore making it easy-taking. Though the vehicle may look a bit uncomfortable to ride, it will surely have an impact on transportation in the near future. [Read the rest of this entry...]

As winter is getting near in most countries located in the northern hemisphere, how to guard against H1N1 has become an important issue. Recently, the Japanese menswear company Haruyama Trading has come up with the Anti H1N1 Suit to keep you away from the dreaded disease. It is coated with titanium dioxide, which will break down, when reacts with light, to kill the virus. Leave aside its functions, the suit really makes me feel safer.