CHINDOGU

Rank: Schultz Awesome Igi
Nominated by: Awesome Igi
AwesomeOff: June 2009
Total Points: 4002

Kenji Kawakami coined the term Chindogu and inspired a wave of inventions. These inventions or Chindogu seem to be the perfect solution to everyday problems except they aren't.  (More Examples)

The Ten Tenets of Chindogu

From 101 UNUSELESS JAPANESE INVENTIONS
by Kenji Kawakami

  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. Humor must not be the sole reason for creaitng a Chindogu.
  7. Chindogu is not propaganda.
  8. Chindogu are never taboo.
  9. Chindogu cannot be patented.
  10. Chindogu are without prejudice.

 

 

 



Chindogu was voted MORE AWESOME than:

Unibrow


Peekaru


The Viking Helmet


Stinky Cheese


Notorious B.I.G. Doll


Chindogu was voted LESS AWESOME than:

Queen of the Mist


Ultra Slow Motion


Troy Hurtubise's Inventions


Gong


Keith Loutit's Little Sydney


Reliant Robin


Teddy Roosevelt


Choose Your Own Adventure Books


Rasputin


Che Guevara


James Earl Jones Counts to 10


Death Star


Mermaids


Rockin' Steady


Image Credits
Filename: chindogu_multicut.jpg
Source: Smath. on flicr cc
Url: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spam/3178030397/

Video Source
YouTube user: pinktentacle3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjuCwnoNWQw
Word on the Street

Rank: Colonel The Dude
The Dude commented ( about Chindogu ) on 6/15/2009
Great new video for Chindogu. I especially like the Pachinko shoes.

Rank: Colonel DorkPower
DorkPower replied to The Dude on 6/15/2009
I see a Bukowski-like turn-around coming with the new video.

Rank: Tom xyop96
xyop96 replied to on 6/17/2009
yah the video helps A real lot....

Rank: Schultz Under the Radar
Under the Radar commented ( about Chindogu ) on 6/9/2009
It's not just the scissors- it's an art form of making useful inventions that just will never really be produced...I saw in a Chindogu book a device for collecting leftover bits of soap that will compress them into a new bar of soap; a few years later some company actually started making them in the US and it was subsequently taken out of the Chindogu books. That's dedication.

Rank: Blade the_mad_nader
the_mad_nader commented ( about Chindogu ) on 6/6/2009
Uhhhmmm, I don't want to sell the awesomeness of Chindogu short but...scissors? I'm getting the feeling there's more to these "inventions", but just not picking it up...

Rank: Blade JS
JS replied to the_mad_nader on 6/6/2009
I don't know much about Chindogu itself, but those scissors look like a pair of "shredder scissors". I have a knock-off with more blades than the one in the picture. It was marketed as a low-cost alternative to a shreader, but it just takes ten times as long and is ten times as messy. Shredder Scissors-good idea, except it doesn't work. Which I guess is the definition of Chindogu. It would be nice to see more examples, though.

Rank: Blade the_mad_nader
the_mad_nader replied to JS on 6/7/2009
Thanks - I don't believe I've ever seen "shredder scissors", but after your description and looking again at the pic, I think you're right. I guess the CONCEPT of a simple manual device that accomplishes the same task as a complicated, (relatively) expensive electronic gadget is pretty awesome...if it worked well!

Rank: Tom Ivan Awesomeoff
Ivan Awesomeoff replied to on 6/8/2009
I think we are still trying to get some more photos we have the rights to use. Chindogu is definitely awesome and hilarious, we better polish it off quick!

Rank: T.B.D. (Captain) The McBoxman
The McBoxman commented ( about Chindogu ) on 6/5/2009
New MAP right here. I think that no one really cares enough about this to oppose this

Rank: Blade Thad B. Awesome
Thad B. Awesome commented ( about Chindogu ) on 6/5/2009
Japanese scissors? Is that what I'm voting on here? Can anyone explain?

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