Art and Design

Sweet Music: Chocolate Scented Headphones for Valentine's Day

by Steve Levenstein

Ear candy just got real thanks to 'Sound Like Chocolate', the world's first chocolate-scented stereo headphones. Thoughtful, tasteful and calorie-free, these sweet smelling headphones from Japan's Fu-Bi are the perfect practical Valentine's Day gift for your favorite cocoa nut.

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Solar Powered & Retro Styled Toyota 2000GT SEV Sounds Crazy, Sparks Interest

by Steve Levenstein

The Toyota 2000GT SEV is a one-off, electric concept car being shown to the public at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon. Designed by the Crazy Car Project under the direction of the Toyota Automobile Association, this “shocking” automotive update takes Toyota's iconic late-sixties sports coupe from flower power to solar power.

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Designer Keyboard Brush from Japan is Really the Pits

by Steve Levenstein

Finally, a use for armpit hair! Well, sort of. This cute anthropomorphic brush is designed to clean your keyboard's hard to reach nooks and crannies while putting a smile on your face. The unabashedly hirsute “Okite” underarm hair brush comes from Japanese design house and specialty retailer DECOLE, and is one of the popular Humania series of home, office, kitchen and school cool tools.

Remote Control LED Color Changing Ice Bucket for Light Drinkers

by China.new

Add some extra fizz to any party with the LED Color Changing Ice Bucket with Remote Control. The bucket's cool-running 25,000-hour rated LED light ensures your bubbly won't boil while the remote control option is just as cool as it gets.

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Chinese Online Retailers Furiously Flogging 'Three Wolf Moon' T-shirts

by China.new

Remember “Three Wolf Moon”, 2009's meme of the year and, as a result, Amazon.com store retailer The Mountain's biggest selling design EVAR? No? It seems China doesn't either, leaving the field of wolf-wear wide open for one enterprising online seller obliviously ensconced (along with their customers) behind China's Great Firewall.

Slip Your iPhone 4 or 4S into a SwitchEasy 'Melt' 3D Case

by Steve Levenstein

SwitchEasy's colorful “Melt” 3D cases for the iPhone 4 or 4S keep your smartphone safe from life's hard knocks while managing to look hot and cool at the same time. The cases feature a slick, shiny, melty-look top portion molded in smooth polycarbonate plastic for easy ingress and egress from the owner's pocket.

Dignity: Now That's Something New For Patient Attire

by Myra Per-Lee

Whether you are instructed to put the strings in the front or the back of the faded, wrinkled, rag of a gown, if there's one thing you won't have once you've donned the thing, it's your dignity....

Faceless, Dial-less Wristwatch Leaps From Concept to Counter

by China.new

Chinavasion's “Japanese Style Inspired” LED wristwatches display time digitally without the need for a face, dial, or hands... and they're priced at under $10 per timepiece. The futuristic wristwatch's design apes that of an award-winning, one-off, 2008 concept watch from Japanese designer Hiranao Tsuboi while Chinese engineering shortcuts make it practical for mass consumption.

Pawel Grunert Still Finds Time To Design With A 'Re Purpose'

by Toby

Just when you thought you'd seen the last soda bottle chandelier, table, or chair... Polish interior designer Pawel Grunert creates the bottle chair to end all bottle chairs: the Eco Chaise Lounge, a magnificent, dynamic sculptured work that's as organic in design as Grunert 's wood and steel masterpieces.

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Chinese Internet Retailers Now Stocking Kim Jong-Il T-shirts & Hoodies

by China.new

North Korea's “Dear Leader” may be gone but online retailers at China's Taobao Internet Mall are making sure he's not forgotten by flogging Kim Jong-Il t-shirts and hoodies. Lookin' sharp, comrade!

Nerd Jewelry from Japan Measures Your Level of Geek Chic

by Steve Levenstein

Geek chicks looking to flaunt some geek chic should look no further than Mass Item's “Measuring” line of math set women's jewelry from Japanese designer Kyozo Kawabe. The miniaturized and accessorized rulers, triangles and protractors come in a variety of colors and won't leak ink into your pocket protector.

Hello Kitty's Tribute to Visionary Apple CEO, Steve Jobs

by Steve Levenstein

Sanrio, Japan's kawaii character company and home of cuteness queen Hello Kitty, teamed up with California goods retailer LoungeFly to thank Apple's inspirational CEO, the late Steve Jobs, for a lifetime of creativity. The result was a bizarrely cute "Hello Stevie" love-child that ended up pleasing nobody.

New Year Time: Blancpain's Caruso 'Chinese Dragon' Limited Edition Wristwatch

by China.new

The Blancpain Caruso “Chinese Dragon” Limited Edition wristwatch rings in 2012, the Year of the Dragon, in rare style... and “rare” is the watchword here. The luxury Swiss watch manufacturer plans on producing just 50 of the 18k rose gold tickers, sticker priced at $219,682 each.

Newest Japanese Rice Field Art Sends Living Messages of Hope

by Steve Levenstein

The 2011 crop of “Tanbo” rice field art is bolder and more beautiful than ever before. This year, though, Japan's artistic rice farmers are going against the grain by growing messages of hope and perseverance meant to encourage a nation fed up with natural and unnatural disasters.

LovePlus Mobile Battery Collection Redefines Girl Power

by Steve Levenstein

Fans of the Japanese dating simulation game LovePlus should get a charge out of this: three new mobile phone & music player batteries, each one displaying the face of their favorite female LovePlus character.

China's Chocolate Fashion Looks Good, Tastes Great!

by China.new

A rather “tasteful” fashion show at World Chocolate Wonderland in Shanghai, China, featured clothing and accessories made from delicately (and deliciously) carved & crafted chocolate.

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Roll-Up Remote Control Speaker Keyboard for Well Rounded Types

by China.new

Roll-Up keyboards are nothing new but the DN-SKB-MF02 Roll-Up Speaker Keyboard from Shanghai Donya takes the concept to the next level. The USB-powered and remote-control operated device features a keyboard, stereo speakers and MP3 music player compatibility all wrapped up in a sleek silvery cylinder.

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Eco-Friendly Oil-Filled Space Heaters Exude Retro Radiator Styling

by Steve Levenstein

Cool heaters! The FZ Series Oil Radiator Heaters from Japan's Eureks may look film-noir retro but look beyond their finned skins and you'll find environmentally friendly, non-polluting, oil-filled space heaters designed to match the needs of today's power-saving, post-nuclear Japanese households.

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Wacky Wax 'Candelier' is one Wick-edly Clever Lamp Design

by Steve Levenstein

Wax on! What's bright and white but uses no light... bulbs? The Candelier, of course, a majestic (and messy) chandelier made entirely from white wax by Japanese designer Takeshi Miyakawa. We're certain Mr. Miyagi would approve.

Giant Godzilla Christmas Tree Spruces Up Tokyo Mall

by Steve Levenstein

Pining for those classic Japanese monster movies that had you sitting on pins and needles? Well fir not, er, fear not! The giant Godzilla Christmas Tree from the Aqua City Odaiba shopping mall in Tokyo is the original nightmare before Christmas!

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