A Japanese company called Fujitaka has introduced a “Child Check System” for cigarette vending machines that uses facial recognition. It then compares the face with 100,000 faces in the vending machines database after taking a digital photograph of the consumer.

The legal smoking age in Japan is 20, so if you just so happen to be a 13-year old looking 20 year-old man, you’re shit out of luck. And if you’re a 20-year old who looks like a 13-year old, you get to cheat the system.

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I’m a huge whiskey and scotch drinker, so when I heard that using non-spherical ice cubes in your glass causes the liquor to become watered down easily, I immediately snapped into action. I found out that Taisin, a relatively unheard-of Japanese company, has a device that forms ice into perfect spheres, creating a better surface-area/volume ratio.

Dubbed The Ice Mold, you can score the brass contraption in 50, 65, 70 and 80mm sizes. It can crank them out pretty quickly too, meaning your dinner party won’t suck as much this time around. If your hands get cold after making a few ice balls, you can always use your USB Hand Warmer to bring back the heat.

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Back in the 1800s, if you got shot in the leg, it came off. Broke your arm? Let’s drink some whiskey and saw it off. Modern medicine has been well aided through anatomical drawings from centuries past. Kaibo Zonshinzu has not only drawn some of the most intricate, beautiful medical scrolls, but takes it the extra mile by depicting pain on each person’s face, as if they were a recently disposed-of corpse.

These drawings and scrolls are now kept at the Keio University Library. Over 83 still exist today and have probably made quite a few medical students cringe. I mean look at the dude above. Kaibo is almost as twisted as these Noggins are.

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Over in Japan, people do crazy shit. I’d use different terminology for sure if we were talking about, say, Las Vegas. But Japan is always changing the game with new technology and wacky ideology. The latest craze to hit the land of the rising sun is Drop-in IV Drip Therapy, a service offered through TenTeki10, a company I don’t have a clue about because I don’t read or speak Japanese.

TenTeki10 claims that through 10 minute drip sessions involving supplements, home remedies and energy injections (methamphetamine?), customers can relax and release the stress they experience in having to work and deal with the City of Tokyo day in and day out. Seems a little grandiose to me. Costs about $20 and is way cooler than an oxygen bar at the Excalibur in Vegas.

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We’ve seen vending machines which offer everything from iPod’s to human services, but what about something more attuned to our fashion sense. And by our, I mean you women (gotta watch my macho allure.)  To introduce their new sneaker, Japanese branded Onitsuka Tiger is offering their Trainer from vending machines around Japan.

This is a concept just dying to run rampant across the streets of NYC, where girl’s who emulate the characters from Sex And The City are known to flock. Dem bitches’ be shoe crazy, dawg! But no shoe technology will ever look as sexy, or as efficient as others. — Andrew Dobrow

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Since the people of Japan aren’t known for being the largest breed of humans, they sometimes have to compensate for their stature in other ways. Whether it be owning and expensive car, creating super strong robots, or designing the World’s Largest Photo Album.

Japanese photographer Hitomi Toyama designed this 4m x 3m, 1000 kg photo album, titled “Women Of Vietnam”, which has secured a spot in the Guinness Book Of Records as the largest photo album ever. The album displays 53 photos of women, some baring some magnificent cleavage. The other photos don’t matter as much. — Andrew Dobrow

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The SARS panic might be years behind us, at least as far as pandemics go, but face masks are making a come back. I’m telling you. Don’t believe me? Check out this Cooling Face Mask from Thanko. Powered right from your USB port, the mask gives you 51-inches of breathing room. Go any further and you’ll be dragging your computer with you.

A built-in fan acts as an exhaust system for your face, filtering out heat, fumes, the stench of Grandpa’s bowel movement, and also protecting you from any deadly outbreaks of bird flu. You can get your own for around $25. — Andrew Dobrow

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There is an entire sub-culture of geeks who live in a world of Speedcubing. For you not of the geek persuasion, Speedcubing is the attempt to solve the Rubik’s cube as fast as humanly possible, sometimes in extreme situations, such as blindfolded and underwater. Available now in Japan is this Pro Rubik’s Cube Kit, which comes with all you need to be on the path to speedcubing glory.

The art of speedcubing is more complex then meets the eye. The Pro Rubik’s Kit comes packed with a removable tile which reveals a  special hole for adding in the included lubricant and for readjusting the tension in the mechanism. All of these factors are what lead to solving a Rubik’s in seconds. — Andrew Dobrow

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Millions of fatties have been waiting for the day when that one little pill will be invented that makes you lose weight without making the effort to exercise. The fountain of weight loss pill might be still in the making, but there might be an easier way. These special Blue Shade Glasses are made to make food look bland and less appealing then it usually would.

Research shows that blue is the least appetizing color on the spectrum, which would lead us to believe that these glasses would in theory, make food look less appetizing. Well, I don’t know about you, but I can sure go for a heaping plate of blue right now. But I really should watch my BCI (blue color intake.) — Andrew Dobrow

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Johnny Cash, rest his soul, might need to have someone release a new version of his song “Hey Porter” to better survive the test of time, because this porter doesn’t have a pulse. The RoboPorter holds your luggage for you and transports it to your beckon call.

The Kita Kyushu airport in Japan offers RoboPorters to guide you and your luggage to a bus stop or taxi. Their puny robot brains are yet to know how to guide you to your car. Psh, and they call them slaves. — Andrew Dobrow

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