Video games are popular Japanese gift items.
Japanese companies are famous for producing some of the most innovative consumer luxury goods. From the extremely useful to the cute and silly, Japanese products can enrich your life or make for excellent gifts. The next time you have a little disposable income in your pocket, consider some of the unusual products that Japan has to offer.
Moppet Monitor Cleaner
A Moppet is a small stuffed animal meant to be placed atop your computer monitor as a mascot. Although plush Moppets are certainly cute, they also serve a functional purpose. Each animal has a soft belly for safely cleaning a computer screen. You can find moppets designed to look like many different types of animals including dogs and sea creatures.
Region-free DVD Player
Movies are often released on DVD in some regions of the world while they are still in theaters in other areas. To help prevent DVD sales from cannibalizing theater ticket sales, most DVDs and DVD players have region coding. If the region of a DVD and player match, the movie plays. If not, the player rejects the disc. However, some high-end Japanese DVD players are region-free, allowing them to play discs coded for any region. If you or someone you know enjoys foreign films, a region-free DVD player can make it much easier to enjoy movies from other parts of the world.
Compost Creator
The TKP-020 is a device that might be an example of what the wastebaskets of the future will be like. This device looks like a cartoon dog on the outside. You can place your food waste into it along with an organic catalyst, and the device converts your waste into compost that you can use for fertilizing your garden. The TKP-020 is also able to convert animal waste to compost.
Soladey Ionic Toothbrush
The Soladey ionic toothbrush resembles a standard toothbrush. However, the handle contains small solar panels. The energy collected by the panels is converted into ions which, according to the manufacturer, kill germs and eliminate the need to use toothpaste. While you could be forgiven for using toothpaste anyway, the Soladey toothbrush does eliminate the need to use the disposable batteries found in many low-cost electric toothbrushes.
Abstract Watch
Japan has an ample supply of abstract watches that use dots, lines, or virtually any conceivable system other than numerals to display the time. Abstract watches look futuristic and fashionable, and can be used as conversation pieces.
