Cleanliness, efficiency, compactness, cool-factor... for a variety of reasons, automatic doors have become a standard feature of Japanese shops. While the typical sliding star-trek style design has proven itself, the tanaka auto door aims to improve upon a good concept. This new design entails strips equipped with…

Lost in translation, or intentionally provocative? There's got to be a good story behind the name "Homo Sausage." If you're wondering, like I did, if "homo" has the same meaning in Japanese... it does. -JM

The intarweb needs a new search engine like it needs another goatse mirror. While Mars flag is coming to an already crowded party, it shows up fashionably late and in style. It's killer feature: visual indexing. Enter a family-friendly search phrase like "college coeds," then watch in horror *cough* delight, as…

Stressed out from work? Bummed out by the ole' Al Quaeda threat? Got those Martha Stewart extended-home-arrest blues? Let Banpresto's
"Stonepalette" wash your woes away in artificial rainbow loveliness. Tucked inside the "me too" mighty mouse design is a tiny projector lamp focused on a polished riverbed stone…

The craftrobo pro is a new inkjet printer sporting a built in cutting head which can spit out pre-cut patterns that fold into 3d objects. The craftrobo site features a library of downloadable patterns with novelties like robots, and dinosaurs, but the real fun begins in the box & bags section, where kids can…

Because waiting around for cash just isn't "fun" anymore, starting next month, Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank will be rolling out new ATM machines featuring a slot game that customers can play while they wait. According to a bank spokesman, 1 in 10 will hit tripple sevens having a 150 yen payout, enough to cover the bank's…

Instant Ramen, the long-standing foundation foodgroup of the college diet, has earned itself a ride into orbit on space shuttle Discovery. After the successful launch this week, Nissin Foods announced that Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi was headed into space packing "SpaceRam," a specially developed ball-shaped…

What do Louis Vuitton, Robots, and Soccer all have in common? The 2005 RoboCup Osaka, where 400 teams from 35 countries faced off in various competitions over the course of 5 days for the purpose of fostering AI and robotics research globally. In addition to soccer, this years competition saw two new categories…

This may look like a typical external hard drive, but it would be foolish trusting appearances when dealing with a name like "Movie Cowboy." What lies underneath the unassuming facade, is a self-contained media player that not only reads from a hard-drive of your choice (not-included), but will also let you browse…

Those who see showering as an inefficient process in obvious need of technical innovation should be delighted by the Avant "Santelubain 999" automatic personal washing machine. Upon slipping inside the clamshell-chic device, users will find a variety of functions at their fingertips including everything from "Body…

Studying Abroad in Japan has posted a couple of snapshots of these great posters for AU's Star Wars campaign that i've been spotting around yamanote line stations lately.

Despite the metal hand clamps and menacing posture, this black leather monstrosity is not the future of torture technology. What you are looking at is top-of-the-line Japanese massage chair engineering. Family Co's FMC-5000 "Medical Chair Family Robo" is a massage chair, armed to the teeth with enough strategically…