Strange Japanese Inventions

Chindogu is the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, Chindogu has a distinctive feature - anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever. Thus, Chindōgu are sometimes described as "unuseless" – that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called "useful." The term "Chindogu" was coined by Kenji Kawakami.

Here are some examples, which are self-explanatory :

1. The Umbrella Tie
2. The Toilet Paper Hat
3. The Pork Ramen-Favored Candy
4. The Hair-Growth Shower Cap
5. The Cardboard Speakers
6. The Humping USB Dog
7. The Hello Kitty Contacts

Images courtesy of Ningin