The Golf Bra, by Triumph

Hole in one?

Golf, in Japan, is almost as important as its national sport (and pastime), Baseball. It’s especially popular among Japanese men in their mid 30s and 40s. Lately, though, golf is fast gaining popularity with the younger market.

This is evident from my last trip to Tokyo, where I spotted a sports clothing and apparel department store dedicated to golf, and golf alone, in the trendy area of Shinjuku.

Now in order to help the Japanese women find a new golfing mate, Triumph decided to offer to the ladies a new and “unique” bra that doubles as a golf-putting mat in order to combine pleasure and … pleasure. More bizzare pics and a video after the jump.

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Plastic Moon House by Norisada Maeda Atelier

Japan may be known for the wacky and wonderful, but it’s also known as one of the most stylish and cutting edge places on planet Earth. Take this Plastic Moon House for example.

Built in Tokyo, Japanese architects Norisada Maeda Atelier designed this house that includes a dental practice and swimming pool.

As you’d expect (err), the swimming pool is stylishly integrated on the top floor above the dental practice area on the ground floor.

Plenty of pictures after the jump.

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Japanese Mini Erasers – “We Rub Japan”

“Collectible Erasers” sounds like an oxymoron to most people outside Japan, but in the Land of The Rising Sun (or Rising Fun in this case) these are hot collectibles for those who are in and out of school. They are literally too cool for school.

Take a look at the above dimsum set for example. The fine detailing extends to individual grains of fried rice and four sets of chopsticks!

The sushi, snack food and cake erasers have to be seen to be believed. They look so good you’ll be tempted to take a bite, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

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9h Capsule Hotel by Design Studio S

I, for one, welcome our capsule overlords

When in Japan, you absolutely have to set aside time (say, about 9 hours) to have this particular unique experience at least once.

No, I’m not talking about buying used girls underwear from a vending machine – I’m talking about staying overnight at a capsule hotel.

Three years in the making, the 9h Capsule Hotel (designed by Design Studio S) is named that because you’re supposed to only stay there nine hours, and each room is so small you can’t even stand up in it. That’s right: it’s a capsule.

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Haute CAToure (Ready-to-Wear Collection) by United Bamboo

It was only ever a matter of time before the catwalks (you see what I did there) were dominated by real cats.

Well, Japanese fashion house United Bamboo has begun seriously designing for cats.

To kick it off, United Bamboo has created a line of ready-to-wear (haute CAToure?) items for cats, designed to match their women’s fashions for the Fall and Winter season 2009 – 2010.

Jump through for a preview of what’s on offer…

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Anatomically Correct Hello Kitty …Not What You’re Thinking

Chances are good that even if you know only a little about Japan, you would have heard of Hello Kitty.

The fictional feline character from Sanrio is Japan’s answer (and eternal nemesis?) to Disneyland’s Mickey Mouse. And like Mickey Mouse, the merchandise range brandishing the Hello Kitty image is enormous.

This time around, Dr. Romanelli (trendy streetwear and fashion designer), Sanrio, and Medicom Toy Co, have come together to release three limited vinyl figures in the “Anatomy” series.

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Scope Node Mouse, For Those Ultra-Sensitive Applications

One thing you have to love about Japan is the way its manga/anime culture permeates into normal everyday life. From the life-sized Gundam in Odaiba to the futuristic Himiko watercraft in Tokyo Bay (we’ll look at both of these soon), you can’t help but be bombarded with anime-inspired paraphernalia everywhere you go.

Take this computer mouse by Elecom for example. It has styling and design cues straight from the pages of “Ghost in the Shell” or “Metal Gear Solid“. But it’s all not just style and no substance.

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Manga Monday 01: Beck

Welcome to Manga Monday, where I’ll introduce you to a manga series I’ve read and loved in the past. If you’re not clear on just what manga is, the Wikipedia entry would be the best overview – but in simplest terms, manga is the term for Japanese comic books.

First up is Beck, the story of ‘Koyuki’, a young boy who takes up the guitar after saving an odd-looking dog – Beck – from some neighbourhood kids. Beck’s owner, Ryusuke, is a young American-Japanese guitarist in a rock band, and to Koyuki, it’s just the change his self-described boring life needs.

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The Problem With Japanese Inventions…

We’ve all read the books and – for those for whom books are anathema – the websites about the zany Japanese inventions designed to improve day-to-day life.

Butter in a glue stick, slippers with a retractable rod in the heel to squash cockroaches from a distance, double-headed jugs so you can pour two glasses of water at a time, and my absolute favourite: the hardhat with a suction cup on the back, so you can attach yourself to the train window on the way home and fall asleep without your head falling into your chest.

The problem with these inventions is that they seem to ignore one fairly major factor in the success of a new product: will it embarrass me?

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Kusho – "Writing in the Sky"

To put it simply, Shinichi Maruyama hurls black India ink into water (or vice versa) and photographs the millisecond that these two liquids collide.

Maruyama takes full advantage of a recent advancement in strobe light technology which can record physical events faster than the naked eye can perceive them – 1/7500th of a second, in fact.

In the series Kusho, which means “writing in the sky,” Maruyama’s goal is to arrest in space and time the sublime intersection of two different media before they merge into one.

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