The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindogu

Front Cover
W. W. Norton & Company, 2005 - Art - 303 pages

In Japan, Kenji Kawakami is famous for his tireless promotion of Chindogu: the art of the unuseless idea. Kawakami has developed an entire philosophy around these bizarre and logic-defying gadgets and gizmos, which must work but are actually entirely impractical. Created in the spirit of anarchy, unuseless inventions are not allowed to be patented or sold.

Fans of the unuseless will love this completely absorbing collection of 200 Chindogu, including:

  • the Drymobile (your laundry dries as you drive)
  • the Solar-Powered Torch (never runs low on batteries)
  • Duster Slippers for Cats (now the most boring job around the house becomes hours of fun--for your cat!)
  • Walk 'n' Wash Ankle-Attachable Laundry Tanks (a perfect solution for the problems of inadequate exercise and hygiene)
  • and many, many more.

These hilarious inventions have taken Japan by storm. Every one of the 200 items in The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions has actually been manufactured to the highest standards, fully tested by pioneering members of the Japanese public, and documented in their unuselessness with photographs.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
12
Section 2
25
Section 3
26
Section 4
35
Section 5
46
Section 6
48
Section 7
58
Section 8
72
Section 12
131
Section 13
141
Section 14
154
Section 15
187
Section 16
193
Section 17
204
Section 18
223
Section 19
252

Section 9
99
Section 10
109
Section 11
120
Section 20
262
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

allows Art of Chindogu attached bath bite brush camera cats centimetres chew Chin chopping chopsticks chores cigarette clean coffee Commuter Commuter's Contact Lens cool Deep Fry designed desk Detachable Tooth Covers dishes drinking extra face feel feet fingers footwear Fork Geta Glasses Gloves golf hair hand hard Hay Fever head helmet Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ice cubes International Chindogu inventions Japanese keep Kenji Kawakami Kleenex KOKUYO KOKUYO Konica MINI Ladies legs lips lipstick seal look Mask MINI Konica mirror mouth nails natto Noodle oral hygiene pair person personal grooming Portable Countryside Portable Lamp Post problem Protector rain salaryman Sandals Shiatsu shoes sleep Sleeper slip Slippers smell smoke snooze step stick Strap stroll Subway Sunday Telegraph Swiss Army There's umbrella velcro Vertigo wake walk washing wear wearer Zebra Crossing 珍道具

About the author (2005)

Kenji Kawakami is the inventor of the concept of Chindogu and the founder of the 10,000-member International Chindogu Society. Dan Papia is a translator. He also heads the chapter of the International Chindogu Society based in Los Angeles. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and "real food" campaigner. He promotes a back-to-basics philosophy with regards to cooking.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindogu
Norton paperback
AuthorsKenji Kawakami, Dan Papia
EditorHugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Translated byDan Papia
PublisherW. W. Norton & Company, 2005
ISBN0393326764, 9780393326765
Length303 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Art / Asian / Japanese
Design / Product
Humor / Form / Essays
Humor / Form / Pictorial
Humor / Topic / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
Reference / Curiosities & Wonders
Sports & Recreation / General
Technology & Engineering / Inventions
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan