Japan

Smellivision Ads, Coming to Billboards

The prospect of smellivision has intrigued Man since he was enjoying the earthy scent of dinosaur cooking over an open flame, wishing He could exploit its musk to sell more dinoburgers. At long last, NTT Communications is incorporating smells into their digital signs. Using one billboard (OK, LCD display) as an experiment this month, visitors…

Gadgets Mark Wilson Oct 18

Air Guitar Gadgets Aren’t as Cool as Real Guitars, Somehow

In Den Den Town in Osaka, Bashcraft and I found a table with a bunch of air guitar gadgets at the front of an electronics store. What are air guitar gadgets, you ask? They’re stupid little devices that make noise when you pretend to play guitar, making you look like a total jackass. Or me…

Gadgets Adam Frucci Oct 17

Touring the Umeda Sky Building and Riding the World’s Highest Escalators

My last stop in Osaka before leaving for Kyoto was the Umeda Sky Building, which is actually two 40-story skyscrapers that just happen to be connected by the world’s highest escalators. Two of them, in fact, which cross between the two buildings over 550 feet of clear space. Initially, there were supposed to be four…

Gadgets Adam Frucci Oct 17

Japanese Can Now Live in Baria’s Soccer Ball Home

In case you were unaware; Japan is awesome. Adding to the cool by a factor of a soccer ball shaped dwelling is Baria’s Soccer Ball Home—living like no other. The unorthodox abode is constructed from 32 panels of steel reinforced, glass fiber fabric and is available in whatever color you choose. (Color like no other?—I…

Tech News Haroon Malik Oct 17

Den Den Town: Osaka’s Akihabara-Style Geek Center

Super Potato wasn’t the only place Ashcraft took me in Osaka; no, that was just one small taste of our tour. We explored all of Den Den Town, which is Osaka’s version of Akihabara: a geek center full of electronics, manga, and video game shops. And unlike Akihabara, it hasn’t sold itself out to tourists.…

Gadgets Adam Frucci Oct 16

The Vending-Machine Ramen Taste Test

Here in Japan, if you want a hot cup of ramen noodles in soup, you don’t need to go to a restaurant or even to your kitchen. No, you just need about $2.50, a lack of respect for your taste buds, and to be near a vending machine. That’s right: you can get hot ramen…

Gadgets Adam Frucci Oct 16

New Block Tokyo Tower Lights Up and Transforms your Life

Japanese toy firm Gakken has brought out a light-up version of the Tokyo Tower for you to build. And if you don’t fancy having a 3’4″ red and white version of Godzilla’s favorite phallic object owning a piece of your floor, then you can always turn the waffle-shaped bricks into three other things: A hot-air…

Gadgets AddyDugdale Oct 16

Beautiful Japanese Building to be Covered in Puke

Japan is set to launch its first building-mounted free-fall ride in an exterior wall of Osaka’s $157 million 12-story namBa H!PS entertainment complex set to open this December. The ride will provide guests with a beautiful view of the city right before it drops them 200 feet down the side of the building at 50…

Tech News Sean Fallon Oct 15

Osaka’s Super Potato is a Retro Gaming Mecca

Bashcraft of Kotaku fame just took me on an amazing guided tour of some of Osaka’s best geek haunts, including Super Potato, probably the sweetest video game store I’ve ever been in. Because there are no game rentals in Japan (but renting CDs is big, for some reason), the market for used games and consoles…

Tech News Adam Frucci Oct 15

Japanese Toilet Outsmarts Gizmodo Writer

So I arrived in Tokyo last night after a delightful 13-hour flight, and because jet lag is totally awesome, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning after only 6.5 hours of sleep despite having been awake for nearly 30 hours the day before. What better time to make a video for you nice folks…

Gadgets Adam Frucci Oct 15

Sony Sexes Up Laptops, Walkmans and Headphones as Part of Its Canvas Exhibition

Sony has commissioned three of Japan’s most promising graphic artists to add color to four of its products. Hajime Yoshio, ZanPon and Ryuji Otani are the trio behind the limited-edition laptops, cell phone cases, media players and headphones, part of the company’s Canvas show at its Ginza headquarters. A lucky few will be able to…

Gadgets AddyDugdale Oct 15

Ghost in the Shell Robot Will Be Your New Best Friend

When the dog runs away, your girlfriend leaves you for your sister, and all of your other friends have ditched you, this Tachikoma robot of Ghost in the Shell fame will be there to keep you company. He can initiate games, dodge bullets, record voice messages, and play music. Just plug him in to your…

Tech News Sean Fallon Oct 12

Nissan Around View Monitor Gives You The Top-Down Approach

Using cameras and sensors, Nissan’s literally named “Around View Monitor” records the surroundings and synthesizes them in realtime into a bird’s-eye-view of your car, which it displays on the in-dash monitor. Slated to be released first in Japan, on the Elgrand delivery van, its prime benefit is clearly for drivers of windowless vans, but as…

Tech News Wilson Rothman Oct 12

Digital Push-up Counter Goes to 999 for Those Who Can’t Count That High

If you find it hard to keep counting after your 100th push-up, this piece of genius from those kooky Japanese people might be just what you need. Push the big red button with your chin with each rep, and prove to the world that you’re a real man. You can do up to 999 push-ups…

Gadgets Charlie White Oct 11

Face Massaging Robot is for the Stressed and Brave

Tired? Looking to relax? Here, just stick your face between these two cylinders and let our new $70,000 face massaging robot go to work. What, you don’t trust your precious face in there? Well, you clearly haven’t experienced the subtle massages that robots can give when they’re trapped inside an ugly recliner at Brookstone at…

Tech News Adam Frucci Oct 10

Gizmodo’s Japan Adventure: Possible Meetup and a Lesson on Junkets

So I told you guys I was going to Korea and Japan. Well, there have been some changes. I’m skipping Korea and just doing Japan for two weeks. Why? https://gizmodo.com/tell-me-where-to-go-in-seoul-and-tokyo-306750 Well, I was supposed to visit a company HQ in Seoul, tour their factory, design center, the works. But then, a week before I was…

Tech News Adam Frucci Oct 9

Japanese Bureaucrats Busted for Editing Gundam Wikipedia Entries on the Job

Six Japanese government drones in the Agriculture Ministry were given a verbal wag of the finger for dumping hours of worktime into editing Wikipedia, with one guy racking up over 260 contributions to Gundam-related entries. Speaking for the ministry on the matter, an official commented that “the Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam.”…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan Oct 5

iRiver Siren DP350 Released in Japan Today

iRiver’s new media player, the DP350, came out in Japan today. Flash memory-based, it comes with 2GB and 4GB storage, and can play MPEG-4, WMV, MP3, WAV, OGG and image files, so you can use it as a storage device as well. Um, what else? Windows-compatible, you get five hours’ video playback and 18 hours’…

Tech News AddyDugdale Oct 5

Concept Remote Controller from Hitachi Looks Special, Sexy

As CEATEC goes on, the weirder ideas find their way onto the web. Here’s Hitachi’s concept RC device with an intuitive user interface. Below the bump is a pic of the prototype that they’re currently working on. I can’t decide whether it looks more like an MP3 player or a sex toy. [Aving USA]

Gadgets AddyDugdale Oct 5

Japanese Stop Motion 3D Video Lets You View Cheerleaders From All Angles

Our buddy Sean Captain got to see this weird Free-Viewpoint Video scheme at CEATEC, which takes a scene and renders it in full 3D—allowing you to zoom around like it were a virtual room in The 7th Guest. The secret is setting up a crapload of still cameras around the side and taking loads of…

Tech News Jason Chen Oct 4

Smellivision Ads, Coming to Billboards

Air Guitar Gadgets Aren’t as Cool as Real Guitars, Somehow

Touring the Umeda Sky Building and Riding the World’s Highest Escalators

Japanese Can Now Live in Baria’s Soccer Ball Home

Den Den Town: Osaka’s Akihabara-Style Geek Center

The Vending-Machine Ramen Taste Test

New Block Tokyo Tower Lights Up and Transforms your Life

Beautiful Japanese Building to be Covered in Puke

Osaka’s Super Potato is a Retro Gaming Mecca

Japanese Toilet Outsmarts Gizmodo Writer

Sony Sexes Up Laptops, Walkmans and Headphones as Part of Its Canvas Exhibition

Ghost in the Shell Robot Will Be Your New Best Friend

Nissan Around View Monitor Gives You The Top-Down Approach

Digital Push-up Counter Goes to 999 for Those Who Can’t Count That High

Face Massaging Robot is for the Stressed and Brave

Gizmodo’s Japan Adventure: Possible Meetup and a Lesson on Junkets

Japanese Bureaucrats Busted for Editing Gundam Wikipedia Entries on the Job

iRiver Siren DP350 Released in Japan Today

Concept Remote Controller from Hitachi Looks Special, Sexy

Japanese Stop Motion 3D Video Lets You View Cheerleaders From All Angles

Ryan Coogler Is Shifting ‘Animorphs’ Into a Disney+ Show

No Fooling, ‘Spaceballs 2’ Will Hit Theaters April 2027

I Regret to Inform You That the Artemis II Astronauts Are Having Lots of Screen Time

The First ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Reactions Are Most Solid

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 Is Doing What You Hoped

Wearables Are Getting Very Messy

Trump Wants to Start Privatizing TSA in Latest Budget Proposal

Lost Warship From Battle of Copenhagen Found After 225 Years

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

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