Brilliant Inventions And Amenities That Only Exist In Japan

Compressed T-Shirts

Not small or tight shirts, compressed T-shirts. The small cubes that they reside in allow for increased storage space.

Hotel Capsules

The Japanese are incredibly skilled at saving space, not just for storage but sleeping too. Some hotels, instead of having full rooms, have this cozy sleeping pods. They still have WiFi and television too.

Single-Coffee Filter Packs

The best way to make coffee is using the pour-over method. However, while the taste may be superior, it can be a little bit tedious to make this way. However, the Japanese created coffee filters to help assist with this method of brewing coffee.

Pillow Selectors

In some Japanese hotels, you’re also given your own choice of a pillow. You won’t have to suffer one that’s too soft or too hard.

Pringle-Flavored Noodles

Noodles and ramen are a staple food item in Japan. Pringles are a staple chip in the west. So, of course, why wouldn’t someone have the idea to combine these?

Free Glasses

Sometimes, people just forget to take their glasses with them. It’s much easier for those who don’t have horrific eyesight, but do need some correction. That’s why, all around Japan, there are small stalls where you can pick up a pair of glasses if you’re in need of some.

Crustless Bread

How many people are there that hate the crust on their bread when making a sandwich? Well, someone in Japan realized that the number must’ve been high. As such, they started packaging and selling bread that already has its crust removed. Now you don’t have to cut it off yourself.

Community Strollers

Wouldn’t it be nice to go to the mall with your small children and not have to worry about packing your own stroller? Well, in malls in Japan, there are strollers available to the public. If you forget to bring your own stroller, or just can’t afford one, you now have an alternative option.

Dry Ice Dispensers

The Japanese didn’t exactly invent dry ice, or the idea of using it to preserve foods, but this idea is rather smart. There are dry ice dispensers in Japan that people can use to help keep cold foods cold before they can get to a freezer.

Specially Designed Carts

Is it that surprising that the Japanese invented a cart designed to more easily move heavy objects. These carts have wheels like treads that allow them to more easily move down the stairs without fear of the cart tipping.

Train Station Food

A train station in America, or many other western countries, will have a rather limited choice of food and snacks. At best, you can probably get a sandwich. But the Japanese feed their population very well. The image below shows a selection of some of the most inexpensive food items you can find at a train station. And this is just a small serving size.

Educational Food Boxes

Speaking of food, some Japanese companies include educational materials in their pre-made lunchboxes. They come with this map that shows you what part of the country your food came from. Give the size of the country, it’s unlikely that anything you’re eating is from too far away.

Advanced Toilets

Some toilets, especially those in Japan, have an entire panel worth of buttons on them. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes these advanced toilets can let you do something as basic as flus or even let you play music. And let’s not forget about the bidet.

Privacy Music

Speaking of music and the toilet, some public restrooms also have privacy music. You can play this while you’re using the bathroom in order to hide the sounds of yourself or others. That way, the more shy people will feel more comfortable getting their business done.

Liquid Seat Cleaner

Still on toilets, this is a nice commodity that probably helps people feel more comfortable about using public restrooms in the first place. It’s just a simple toilet seat cleaner. The knowledge that the seat’s clean makes people for more comfortable when it comes to actually using them.

Conveyor Belt Parking

Parking can get pretty difficult or otherwise annoying under normal circumstances. Not to mention, you can forget where you parked. However, in Japan, there are some parking lots where all you have to do is park your car on a conveyer belt. The belt then takes your car and parks it for you. You just have to insert the ticket you get when you want to get your car back and the conveyer belt will bring it back out for you.

Staircase That Tracks Calories

It can sometimes be hard to track the calories you’re burning when exercising, at least not without special equipment. Sometimes you may also not be especially into fitness, but wouldn’t mind tracking your progress to make sure you’re at least staying healthy. Well, that’s why these stairs are so useful. They count the amount of calories you’re burning per step. It’s not much, but it’ll still make you feel like you’re making some progress.

Public Toilet Seat For Children

Essentially, all public toilet seats in the west are the same size. And that can be a little difficult for younger children to use, given the size of their bodies. That’s why Japan created child-sized public toilet seats. That why you can have your kid use them without fear of them falling inside the bowl.

Full-Body Umbrella

An umbrella is an excellent way to keep yourself dry if you don’t have a jacket. And this umbrella practically serves as a replacement for a jacket. The plastic curtain added to this umbrella helps to protect against side rain and wind.

This one’s pretty simple. Sometimes, when you’re in a building or an elevator you can’t tell if it’s raining. The censors on these elevators notify you if it’s raining so you have time to prepare. They’re not in every Japanese elevator, but they’re very helpful where they are.

Post-It Notes In Gum Boxes

The purpose of the sticky notes may not be obvious at first, but it will be after a brief explanation. If not disposed of properly, gum will just stick anywhere and everywhere. The post-its in the box are for you to place the gum in so that you can dispose of it more easily, and just keep holding onto it until you find a trash can.

Taxi Slow-Down Buttons

Some taxi drivers don’t exactly have the best reputation when it comes to safe driving. That biggest issue can be speed. You may have trouble telling the person to slow down, either because you’re too nervous, too polite, or they just can’t tell you. This button in taxi cabs does just what you need it to without you needing to open your mouth.

Digital Bathroom Stall Maps

If you’re worried about attempting to enter an occupied bathroom stall, the Japanese have thought of this. Outside of some bathrooms, they have a digital map which shows which stalls are occupied and which ones are vacant.

A Simplified Luggage System

Waiting for your luggage and looking for it after getting off a plane be incredibly time-consuming and annoying. It’ll certainly take a while before you realize your luggage is missing if it is. In Japan, they line up the luggage by color. As long as you remember what your luggage looks like, it shouldn’t be too hard to find your own.

Steam-less Bathroom Mirrors

A mirror fogging up is an inevitability when it comes to taking a shower. And after you get out, you’ll have to wipe it down in order to look at yourself if you want to do your hair or brush your teeth. Fortunately, in Japan, many mirrors have a heated element in the center, which prevents a large enough portion of the mirror from fogging up.

Umbrella Rain Patterns

An interesting feature many umbrellas possess in Japan is that they have patterns appear when they become wet. Considering how much it can rain in certain season, it’s a nice little addition. They come in a variety of different patterns as well.

Chairs For Handbags

It’s just a small groove on the back of the chair, but leaving your handbag in that groove makes it much more difficult for someone to attempt to steal it. It’s also just overall more convenient.

Home Saunas

This product is called Ofuro de Sauna Kasa, which essentially means bathtub umbrella. It lets the steam from your hot bath rise and become trapped in the umbrella. This gives a localized sauna effect.

Seats For Checking Out The View

Traveling by train is already common within Japan, so getting a good view on one is excellent. Some train chairs can be moved in order to turn better towards the windows, giving you a much better view.

Accurate Lipstick Painting

This mask doesn’t look very attractive, but you’re not supposed to wear it for long. The hole where your mouth goes is perfectly shaped so that you can simply apply lipstick or lipgloss and it won’t end up somewhere you wouldn’t want it.

Cake Claw Machines

The variety of claws machines in Japan is much larger, including ones with food. For example, this one has cheesecakes. Most claw machines only have novelty items, but this is something you can take home and eat with your friends or family.

Zero-Contact Restaurants

For people that have trouble talking with others or are just trying to distance themselves, some Japanese restaurants have a perfect way to get around those problems. These restaurants have a touch pad that you can use to order your food. Then the food will come out to you on a conveyor belt.

Gifts For Customers

This is just a nice amenity for when you purchase something at a store. After purchasing something, you’ll sometimes find something like this origami shirt in your shopping bag. It’s just a kind gesture.

Artistic Manhole Covers

Now, this doesn’t technically make anything easier or more leisurely in Japan, but it’s just nice to look at. In America and most other parts of the world, manhole covers are just there to serve a purpose. But in Japan, many of them have been turned into works of art for the public’s viewing pleasure.

Everything Vending Machines

In most of the world, vending machines are only really for drinks, snacks, and candy. But there’s a wider variety of those vending machines in Japan. Some may even sell used women’s underwear. In 2014 there was one vending machine for every 33 citizens in Japan. It makes you more understanding of why merchants in the country were against the deployment of vending machines in 1993.

Beer Cans For The Blind

Japanese aluminum cans can hold almost any drink, unlike in America where it’s mostly just beer or soda. However, many citizens in Japan are predisposed to an “alcohol flush reaction”, which is an allergy to alcohol. So, Japanese alcohol companies decided to help the visually impaired read their cans before consumption. As such, there’s braille writing at the top of each can. Unfortunately, there’s no uniform standard with what’s printed.

Blue Traffic Lights

In America and other Western countries, the “go” traffic light is green. However, in Japan, that color is blue. The reason as to why is actually pretty interesting. Initially, the Japanese language didn’t have a word for green, but it did have one for blue. So when traffic lights were introduced in the 1930s, that’s the color that was used instead.

Cute Construction Barriers

Construction sites often have barriers that aren’t very pleasing to the eyes. But they’re certainly eye catching. However, Japanese construction companies decided to flip the aesthetic. Their barriers are sweet, cute, and whimsical. It’s more pleasing to the eyes, but it’s probably a little too appealing for children to approach.

Sophisticated Toilets

Guinness World Records named the Japanese toilet, established by the ToTo brand, to be the world’s most sophisticated toilet. Average features include bidets, seat warming, deodorization, health monitoring, self-cleaning, and an automatic opening-closing lid. Building these sort of designer toilets started in the 1980s and kept going into the present.

Navigation Consoles With Television

The spokesman for Pioneer Corp., Hiromitsu Kimura, told the Wall Street Journal an interesting tidbit about their navigation systems. That being that all of their systems sold in Japan have a TV tuner function, but none of those outside of Japan. That means that both drivers and passengers can watch live television while they drive. It may seem dangerous, but most of Japanese traffic is pretty slow and jammed, at least in the cities.

All These Kit Kat Flavors

Kit Kats are ordinarily seen as a chocolatey wafer, with no varieties outside of size. But Japan has a lot more interesting flavors. Fruits, beverages, different chocolate types, even things like sauces and vegetables. The number of different Kit Kat flavors in Japan is immeasurable.

Cars With Rain Protectors

Umbrellas are useful for keeping people dry, but what about an umbrella for your car? Rain protectors are especially useful if you leave your windows open to let the hot air escape. And if you live in an area where it rains, you wouldn’t want your seats and clothes to get wet. Rain protectors are commonplace in Japan to help prevent an unwanted scenario.

Ice Cream You Can’t Melt

It really sounds like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it’s real. Not only does this ice cream not melt at room temperature, but researchers say that it can even withstand the heat of a hairdryer for an extended period. It’s made from a polyphenol liquid from strawberries, which makes it difficult for water and oil to separate. This allows the popsicle containing it to be able to retain its original shape for a much longer period of time.

Square Watermelons

Watermelons are a favored summer fruit and are often given as gifts to special people. But there are also square watermelons which are even more expensive. They were originally created to fit more closely inside refrigerators, but have since become pricey, decorative items. Fewer watermelons are also successfully grown when placed inside these square molds, so they’re incredibly in-demand. That explains the $160 price tag.