After going on about useless products yesterday, I was alerted to chindogu - useless inventions. Actually, a chindogu (literally a queer tool) is un-useless, as Kenji Kawakami, who invented hundreds of impractical and humorous things (including the hayfever-hat), explained. "Even useless things can be useful," he is quoted in the NYT. "The weird logic of these inventions helps us see the world in fresh ways."
Japan is the natural home of chindogu, seemingly, because Japanese culture is more open to new things than many other societies. Fortunately, chindogu are a global phenomenon by now, and since their credo does not allow much more than prototyping, they can unfold their mind-bending capabilities without littering shopping baskets.
To qualify as a chindogu, inventions have to respect a few guidelines:
1. A Chindogu cannot be for real use
2. A Chindogu must exist
3. Inherent in every Chindogu is the spirit of anarchy
4. Chindogu are tools for everyday life
5. Chindogu are not for sale
6. Humour must not be the sole reason for creating a Chindogu
7. Chindogu is not propaganda
8. Chindogu are never taboo
9. Chindogu cannot be patented
10. Chindogu are without prejudice
Check out this one: Designer Aya Tsukioka invented a vending machine costume to hide from criminals
More Chindogu at the International Chindogu Society (!)
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