Japanese Men Perfect the Cloak of Invisibility Much to Japanese Women's Dismay

Japan's been tooling around with versions of invisibility cloaks for years now, but they seem to have finally perfected it. Theoretically. By using "left-handed metamaterials" to make electromagnetic control devices, researchers can generate lenses that either reflect no light or have a perfect focal point—the end result of which lets you create a perfect invisibility cloak to skulk around Tokyo with. If you're really interested in the physics of the situation, you can head over to Nikkeibp, but we're pretty sure the illustration above will explain the matter just fine. [Nikkeibp]

Taito Touchscreen Arcade Card Battle Game Looks Like MS Surface

Japanese arcade fans should get ready to pull out their lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, because this Taito touchscreen arcade game looks pretty awesome. The Engrish Google translation leaves us wondering at how exactly the game works, but from what we can gather, you put real cards onto the virtual board, which makes stuff happen on the video screen up top, which then determines whether you win or lose the battle. We're going to guess lose, since that's the only way the game will force you to plunk down another 500 Yen for four new cards. [Impress]

VOCALOID 2: The Japanese Anime Song Generator

Think Garageband for otakus. This Japanese software suite lets you plug in lyrics and melody and generates an "authentic-sounding" song via its music and vocal synthesizers. As you can see above, the software features a 16-year- old "Virtual Singer," which croons out whatever disgustingly sweet (or just disgusting) lyrics you enter in (Japanese only, we're assuming). It's so popular in Nippon that it's actually the #1 selling software on their Amazon. And for good reason—the songs they generate actually sound like it could have come from a generic teenaged anime. Hit the jump for two videos. More »

Thanko's USB-Powered Laptop Fan Stand

Not only does this aluminum/steel laptop stand from Thanko look both solid and functional, it's got something Thanko's known for—USB Power. Inside the stand are two fans that blow room-temperature air into your hot laptop, which means you're keeping the laptop away from your tender gonads and helping your computer stay cool at the same time. Imagine that, Thanko coming up with a product that has USB and makes sense. Did they change management or something? [Thanko]

Boob Mousepads Become Boob Pillows

Some enterprising Japanese company has taken those Japanese mousepads with anime boobies on them and blown them up. Now pillow sized, the mousepad/pillows provide your hands with something to do while relaxing. It's probably a very nice neck and head rest as well. [AkibaOS via Kotaku]

Japanese Initial D Arcade Booth Features Actual Tofu Car

Arcades are dying out here in the States, but they sure wouldn't if they were more like this Japanese Initial D cabinet. Instead of just a booth or a mockup cockpit to sit in, you get to actually drive in the tofu car from the Initial D series. Not only do you get to drive the '86, you can also ride in a Subaru Impreza WRX and Mazda RX-7 (also featured in the show). If only their Boong-Ga Boong-Ga game was so realistic. [Response via Q-Taro via Kotaku] More »