Japan has a bit of a reputation for odd products. One of my prized possessions is a bread shaped pillow I got during my first study abroad when I was 18, so I can attest to Japan having some interesting products and my interest in them. Here are some of my favorite wacky and amazing products I've purchased in Japan:
The Sheep:
The Sheep is what was advertised as an "eco warmer," which is essentially a rechargeable hot water bottle. There is an insulated bag of some sort filled with some sort of magic liquid (I know it's not magic it's an electrically catalyzed exothermic reaction. Learned something in my four years of chemistry in college), a charger, and an insulating sheep face cover to keep it warm. This can be used to keep you warm or to keep your futon warm. I usually charge it (which only takes 2.5￥ of electricity according to the box) right before bed and stick it under my shirt and as long as I put the sheep cover on pretty quickly after it finishes charging, it will stay warm until morning. I honestly don't know how this miracle of Japanese engineering works but it does.
Bread Slippers:
Japan has a variety of bread themed products, one of which is slippers. Given my love of my bread pillow, I told myself I'd get some bread slippers someday. After a couple weeks in my new apartment, it quickly became apparent I needed slippers given that my feet would literally start hurting from the cold in the maybe 1-2 minutes between me taking off my socks and getting in the shower. Of course, I went for bread slippers. They keep my feet from freezing and look hilarious.
The Cat:
Given that it's cold, I have a heater of some sort running in my apartment pretty much the entire time I'm in it. However, despite Japan being known for it's humidity, the constant running of heaters makes the air very dry. For the sake of my face, I decided to look for a humidifier. Most of the humidifiers I saw in stores were $40 or more so I decided I wasn't that desperate for a humidifier (I know such a college student move lol). However, I was looking through a thrift store (the same one where I got my kotatsu actually) and noticed this adorable little cat ball. Upon realizing it was a humidifier, I just had to have it. Both cute and functional! To top it off, it was only 550￥, so less than $5. It did smell like it had been cleaned, but I went at it with alcohol spray and cotton swabs and cleaned out all the small components, which were kinda gross. Now it's happily shooting steam from it's ears in my living room and saving my face every day.
Personalized Chopsticks:
When wandering around the red brick district in Hokkaido, I wandered into a chopstick shop between a glass store and a sword store (yes I'm serious). They had so many beautiful chopsticks on display and given that most of my chopsticks are from Daiso and pretty old, I decided to get some nicer ones. They had all kinds of designs: birth stones, zodiac animals, cartoons, animals, traditional designs, so many amazing things. I decided on some 招き猫(maneki neko, lucky cat) chopsticks. They were only 980￥ and came with free engraving. So with some talking in my broken Japanese, the shopkeeper's English phrases, me doing my best to write clearly, and about 10 minutes of waiting, I had these beautiful personalized chopsticks.
The Shovel:
My only spoons were plastic spoons I brought with me from my hotel quarantine, so I'm on the lookout for some real silverware. While browsing the kitchen section of one of the two local home centers (which have everything you need from Buddhist altars, 2x4s, printer ink, flowers, coveralls, rice, whiskey, and everything in between) I noticed that mixed in with the silverware were some not quite normal looking silverware. Apparently, the home center sells shovel spoons (in two sizes!) and pitchfork forks. It actually works quite well as a spoon and I plan to go back and get more, because who doesn't want a shovel spoon?!?
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