Grab and go …

 Art, Animation, Film, Culture, General, Life In Japan, Made in Japan, Products, Weird Japan, Weird Japan Misc., What is this?  Comments Off
Jul 062012
 

You see strange things on the streets of Osaka. A professor of art once told me that a defining characteristic of Mexico City was its surrealism. So far in my experience, Osaka hasn’t matched El Districto Federal in the surrealism department, but sometimes it comes close … like the time I was walking through the suburbs surrounding Kansai University and witnessed a man taking a walk with his calico cat … on a retractable leash. He did this without a hint of self-consciousness. But the truly strange thing was that the cat accepted this situation as a completely natural circumstance. Of course, Osaka Ali took this event as proof positive of the imminent end times. Sorry readers, I didn’t have the guts to take his picture and post it here. Perhaps next time.

On the other hands, ummm, hand, I did have the cojones to snap a shot of this:

Easy rider …

Quite a handful an eyeful. Did Salvador Dali design this bicycle seat and forget to license it to Avocet? Well, it appears to be a beautiful accessory attached to an attractive custom “Von Dutch” style pinstriped cruiser bicycle. From what I could tell, the material of this saddle was a black polyurethane surface. I don’t think that it had inscribed handprints and fingerprints, so it wasn’t totally realistic, but I guess it was satisfactorily realistic enough for the owner to install it and presumably ride it. Notice the conveniently placed beer can. Do you think that the bike came from the factory with this seat as a standard option? All that I can say in hindsight *ahem* is that this bicycle seat gives new meaning to the word, “ergonomic”.

Does any reader know who manufactures this saddle?

This artifact was found at approximately 34.706561,135.499287

Sarah Palin brings fame to Japanese designer

 General, Made in Japan  Comments Off
Sep 172008
 

From The Canadian Press

Kazuo Kawasaki, the Japanese designer of Sarah Palin’s glasses, is grateful to the Republican vice-presidential candidate for making his product famous,…”She is very good-looking. She would look good in any glasses,” Kawasaki said Wednesday of Palin at a Tokyo store operated by Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co.

The company, based in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, usually makes 12,000 MP-704 glasses in an 18-month period.

Thanks to Palin, it has already received 9,000 global orders, mostly from the United States, in the last 10 days, says Masunaga store chief Akira Nagayama.

Kawasaki, 59, an engineering professor at Osaka University, also designs arty syringes, artificial hearts, kitchen sponges and wheelchairs – including his own that he uses after a traffic accident 30 years ago.

He believes his glasses are becoming a hit because people appreciate how scientifically and ergonomically they are designed so wearers barely feel their presence.

Kawasaki said he shares what he sees as some common political sentiments with Palin.

“I am quite right-wing,” said Kawasaki, a long-haired soft-spoken man proudly wearing the updated version of the MP-704, the MP-705. “I am a nationalist in the sense I believe in the Japanese esthetic.”

But he also can’t help feeling an affinity with Obama.

Fukui happens to have a city called Obama. Some of his former students have started a community movement supporting Obama, although none of them can vote in the Nov. 4 U.S. election.

An award-winning designer who has contributed to the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Kawasaki has seen his glasses on celebrities before, including former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and actress Whoopi Goldberg.

But he has never got quite the stunning reception as he has had this time around with Palin.

“I want to say, ‘Thank you,’ to Ms. Palin,” he said with a smile. “I want people to realize how fantastic Made in Japan technology can be.”