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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