These thoughtprovoking inventions have taken japan by storm. Big bento box of unuseless fearnleywhittingstall, hugh, kawakami, kenji, papia, dan isbn. Created in the spirit of anarchy, unuseless inventions are not allowed to be patented or sold. From the land of the rising sun, strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions for a life of ease. Those of you fortunate enough to pick that book up and thats quite a few peopleit was a surprise hit already know that chindogu is the notsoancient japanese art of creating gadgets that appear to be useful, but on closer examination, arent. I thought the full color photos of very seriouslooking people using the unuseless inventions were the best part of the book. The big bento box of unuseless japanese inventions dan papia. The author, kenji kawakami is wellknown in japan for his creation and tireless promotion of chingdogu the art of the unuseless idea. Great collection of flop inventions, some of them i would love to own. The art of chindogu kenji kawakami, hugh fearnleywhittingstall, dan papia on.
With these logicdefying chindogu, life will never be the same again. Basically, chindogu is the same as the industrial revolution in britain, says kenji kawakami, who coined the term chindogu, which means weird tool in japanese. From the land of the rising sun come strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions for a life of easeand hilarity. 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. The art of chindogu hugh fearnleywhittingstall, kenji kawakami, dan papia isbn. This book features the best of his inventions, inspired devices designed to solve all the nagging problems of domestic life, including ones you may not have realized you have.
That same year, he and kawakami collaborated on the first chindogu book 101 unuseless japanese inventions. Chindogu is a prank originating from japan, which is done by a person seemingly. Now, the bumper book of unuseless japanese inventions brings brilliant and bizarre solutions to you, which are tried out and photographed on each page, in full colour throughout. The big bento box of unuseless japanese inventions book. They established rules for proper chindogu creation the ten tenets listed above. The big bento box of unuseless japanese inventions by. From the bath body suit, in which one can bathe without having to dry off, to. The big bento box of unuseless japanese inventions by kenji. Bumper book of unuseless japanese inventions by kenji kawakami, 9780007192885, available at book depository with free delivery. The one big difference is that while most inventions are aimed at making life more convenient, chindogu have greater disadvantages than precursor products, so people cant sell them.
In japan, kenji kawakami is famous for his tireless promotion of chindogu. They are those ridiculous japanese inventions designed to solve a particular problem but are, in fact, so clumsy and inelegant that they are an inconvenience to use, and generate a whole lot of new problems. They made another book 99 more unuseless japanese inventions. Kawakami and papia collaborated on the english language book 101 unuseless japanese inventions. To say more will detain you from the pleasures of this book. Maybe id be into this sort of thing if i were japanese or knew more about japanese culture. There can never be enough gadgets to help ease our lives. Following the massive success of 101 unuseless japanese inventions, 99 more specimens of the art of chindogu to amaze, confuse, and entertain.