We have designer Shuji Miyamoto to thank for this improvement on the traditional drawing pin. NinjaPin is designed to maximize holding strength while minimizing the imprint made on your wall/board/whatever. It uses a little r-shape to do this, and seems to work fairly well. I can’t say I’ve ever really had this problem, but then I can’t remember the last time I used a drawing pin.

Source: Impress Watch

I had a friend who had to get a wart on his finger frozen off. I wonder if he could’ve done it himself with this new bug freezing spray? From the press release:

1. Powerful minus 40-degree jet spray instantly freeze and kills unpleasant bugs without using chemical pesticide ingredients.
2. Non-pesticide spray is safe to use in the home with small children.
3. Do not leave an unpleasant smell after use because these products contain no chemical pesticide ingredients.
4. Varsan Hyosatsu Jet Spray for Flying Bugs can be used on midges, fruit flies and moth flies. Varsan Hyosatsu Jet Spray for Creeping Bugs can be used on stink bugs, spiders, centipedes, house centipedes, ants and pill bugs.

You could even try your hand at amateur cryogenics if you so desired. Good work, Lion.

Hello! Back up using the backups. Anyone hurt? Thanks for your patience! If anyone notices anything that’s not working then please let me know.

The time has come to upgrade Plastic Bamboo to some super-bandwidth-allowing mega-server. This means the site will probably be down for about a day, so please be patient! Thanks for making the site so successful! We really appreciate it.

“Always judge a book by its cover”, I say. Japan in a Nutshell is certainly no exception. It is free however, as a 157-page pdf. “For a tour of a unique culture—a fascinating look at its diverse ways and wonders—join him.” Join who? Professor Solomon of course! Nothing terribly exciting, but have a look and see what you think.

Via Look at This

Lamp/Lamp is the creation of designer Hironao Tsuboi, who decided to change the focus of the light bulb from the light produced to the bulb itself. The lamp is only 30W, so is aimed at assisting bedtime reading and whatnot.

Jeff spotted this ad the other day. It’s for a new 10-part dollhouse magazine targeted toward adult women with a keen interest in, eh, dollhouses. If you’re excited about this as much as the women in the advert, then check out the publisher’s site.

Created in 1980, the Namennayo Cats (Nameneko), took Japan by storm. 2 years, 500 promotional items and 100 billion yen in revenue later, it was all over. Don’t worry though; the dressed-up cats are back to celebrate their 25th anniversary (not the same cats I assume), with a whole bunch of new nonsense to sell (see Strap-Ya for an example). Read more about them on the amazing official Nameneko site. Here’s a video of them back in their heyday.

Pics from The Pelorian Cat Project.

Vision Optic Co. has devised a pair of glasses, called MyDo Bururu, that prevent the wearer from falling asleep. Designed to assist those cramming for exams or going on a long drive, they work by detecting what angle the bespectacled user’s head is at. If the head drops below a certain level, a little motor kicks-off to vibrate the earpiece and no doubt scare the crap out of whoever is wearing them. The glasses can be set to go off at one of four levels of head-droop.

Yours, with lenses, for 45,000 yen (£189/$370).

Source: Nikkei

Oddball clothing specialist, Meadownics Inc., has devised a pair of gloves with special battery-powered heating pads in them. The pads consist of little plastic strips coated with carbon, and are placed in the thumbs and each finger of the gloves. The pads are connected to a lithium-ion battery pack that can be easily stuck in your pocket. The battery lasts up to 20 hours per charge, while the heat of the mitts’ can be changed between five different temperatures. The pads are removable for easy washing of the gloves. Charging can be done via the supplied AC adapter, or by the optional car charger. 15,540 yen (£65/$128) is quite expensive though if you ask me!

Source: Nikkei

Zigorow gives me the creeps. Anyone who’s seen him on the show Saku Saku will understand. For those who don’t know about him, Patrick sums up the show well on his blog, chipple.net. If you want to creep me, and no doubt many others out, get one of these new Zigorow phone straps from StrapYa. Eeeeeeee!

Furniture specialist, Itoki, has created a special office chair for female employees. The seat has been created to prevent fatigue by accommodating the characteristics of the female body. The chair is also designed to ease pressure on the blood vessels of the thighs, which will therefore reduce swelling calves. The price of the furniture will be around 70,000 yen (£295/$581).

Phone accessory specialist, StrapYa, has added the ultimate note-taking phone straps to their already gigantic line. Why use the calendar/text-input function on the phone when you can use the Pritt-stick pen, 40-page notepad and plastic eraser hanging from your phone instead?

Using these, you’ll finally be able to get rid of your Hipster PDA!

Rakuten has produced the W012470, a realistic ATM machine that can be used by children to learn how they work, or by anyone else as a fun way to save money. An ATM card is provided along with a pin number, for checking your balance on an LCD screen amongst the realistic security camera and sound effects. Both cash deposits and withdrawals are possible. The W012470 is available for 4179 yen ($35/£18).

Via Far East Gizmos

White Rabbit Express is a new type of shopping site that caters for those seeking unique products from Japan. Heard of something you really want but know it’s Japan only? Just send White Rabbit Express an email with details of your desired item. They’ll find it, price it, and let you know how much it will cost to ship it to you. Sounds good to me! I haven’t tried it yet so have no idea how good the service is or how expensive they are. If anyone has, please let me know so I can stick your comments up here.