Everybody knows the old saying “Necessity is the mother of invention,” but the Japanese seems to really take it to heart. Japan has a lot of strange, unique needs, and out of those needs come cool, unusual … [Read more...]
When I think of Japan I tend to think of beautiful design. Zen gardens, temples, shrines, tea ceremonies, manga, anime, wabi-sabi... the list goes on and on. Yet for some reason Japan just can't put any of this together to … [Read more...]
When you're in Japan, one thing you'll immediately notice is the boxiness of their cars. Sure, not every car looks exactly like a rectangle on wheels, but compared to most other nations in the world Japan is boxy-car … [Read more...]
Japanese text on the web is a lot like politics and sausage - it's a messy process that nobody should ever have to see. But in the time I've been working at Tofugu, I've had to bear witness to some horrible, horrible … [Read more...]
In 1904, Torao Yamaha produced Japan's first domestically manufactured vehicle, a bus. It was steam powered and probably could turn into a mech suit. Soon after, in 1907, Komanosuke Uchiyama made Japan's first gasoline … [Read more...]
Japan has always been at the forefront of technology, whether it's developing complex new robotics, or useless, useless crap. But I don't think most people realize that when it comes to space technology, Japan is right up … [Read more...]