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Topic: Chindogu


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In the News (Fri 27 Nov 09)

  
  CHINDOGU (???): THE NOT SO ANCIENT JAPANESE ART
Chindogu are man-made objects that have broken free from the chains of usefulness.
Chindogu are offerings to the rest of the world - they are not therefore ideas to be copyrighted, patented, collected and owned.
Kawakami describes Chindogu as "invention dropouts," anarchically brilliant ideas that have broken free from "the suffocating historical dominance of conservative utility." In other words, he thinks of it as anti-consumerism, and a jab at the Western world’s need to live on “Easy Street,” with all the comforts of life at your fingertips.
www.gadgets-gizmos-inventions.com /Chindogu.html   (1046 words)

  
  Chindogu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chindogu (珍道具) is the not-so-ancient Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem.
However, Chindogu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions, would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever.
In spite of the stipulation that Chindogu should not be used for satirical ends, Kawakami himself does appear to regard them as a kind of antidote to consumerism, and the Western obsession with making life as 'easy' as possible.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Chindogu   (413 words)

  
 Tenets of Chindogu   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Chindogu are man-made objects that have broken free from the chains of uselessness.
Chindogu are a form of non-verbal communication understandable to everyone, everywhere.
Chindogu are offerings to the rest of the world - they are not therefore ideas to be copyrighted, patented, collected and owned.
www.webpsico.nl /page/tenets.html   (360 words)

  
 International Chindogu Society   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Every Chindogu is an almost useless object, but not every almost useless object is a Chindogu.
They represent freedom of thought and action: the freedom to challenge the suffocating historical dominance of conservative utility; the freedom to be (almost) useless.
Humour is simply the by-product of finding an elaborate or unconventional solution to a problem that may not have been that pressing to begin with.
www.chindogu.com /chindogu/tenents.html   (433 words)

  
 muni-muni ng taong walang magawa: April 2005   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Chindogu - the term was coined by Japanese commedian Kenji Kawakami.
Chindogu are man-made objects that have broken free from the chains of usefulness.
Chindogu are a form of nonverbal communication understandable to everyone, everywhere.
derf79.blogspot.com /2005_04_01_derf79_archive.html   (593 words)

  
 history of useless inventions: chindogu
history of useless inventions : 'chindogu' is the japanese word coined for the art of the unuseless idea.........................................................................
you are not allowed to use a chindogu, but it must be made.
chindogu are man-made objects that have broken free from
www.designboom.com /history/useless.html   (566 words)

  
 South Texas Catholic News Article -- About having things stuff chindogu   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Most people have their own versions of chindogu it could be cars, airplanes, money, art, jewelry, gadgets, etc. Once in Latin America I observed in the barrio many television antennas on the hovels.
The danger for the Christian is not the possession of chindogu, but the confusion between authentic desire and a cultural indoctrination that drives us to conspicuous consumption and results in our living our lives consumed by caring for the things that we do not need.
It is the discovery and pursuit of a mindset that is opposite of the surrounding culture in which we live.
www.goccn.org /stc/articles/article.cfm?article=174   (726 words)

  
 De Nederlandse Chindogu Site   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
The Japanese Art of Chindogu represents a collection of bizarre and brilliant gizmos and gadgets that have broken free from the chains of usefulness to enjoy the sublime liberation of the highly impractical.
Chindogu are designed to solve many of the niggling little problems of modern life at home, at work, at leisure (and while commuting between the three of them).
The best thing about Chindogu is that they are real : all these inventions actually exist and have been made.
www.webpsico.nl /page/uitleg_eng.html   (111 words)

  
 The Dead media Project:Working Notes:28.1
"The art of Chindogu was born in the late 1980's when editor, designer, cartoon writer and amateur inventor Kenji Kawakami discovered that a not-quite-usable idea for a new gadget or product could nonetheless be enjoyable if one were to create a prototype and take delight in the way it misses its mark.
Chindogu is an internationally embraced discipline which celebrates the creation of 'almost useful' inventions and 'inconvenient conveniences.' (...)
To be a chindoguist, one must be able to exercise the self discipline of approaching the inventive process with a certain spirit of wit and anarchy but fully divorced from all notions of patenting, marketing and entrepreneurism.
www.deadmedia.org /notes/28/281.html   (738 words)

  
 defective yeti: Chindogu   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Chindogu is the art of creating almost useless objects.
For examples, check out the Internation Chindogu Society, where you can find such speciments as the backscratcher's t-shirt and the portable crosswalk.
If the idea of chindogu appeals to you, I simply cannot recommend 101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions : The Art of Chindogu too highly.
www.defectiveyeti.com /archives/000039.html   (132 words)

  
 Otte Rosenkrantz: Chindogu
Chindogu, then, is the art of failing spectacularly.
The idea behind this invention was that the user would insert an apple into the device, turn a crank, and the apple would be both peeled and cored at the same time.
A more recent example of North American Chindogu is the so-called "leaf-blower", which is a motorized device using an internal combustion engine to blow leaves and dust off sidewalks and lawns.
otterosenkrantz.blogspot.com /2005/01/chindogu.html   (477 words)

  
 The Chindogu Champion - Japan - Article - J@pan Inc Magazine   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Like Zen koans of invention, chindogu are designed to be both profound contradictions and simple tools to awaken the heart and mind.
His chindogu books have sold nearly 200,000 copies in Japan since they were first published in 1990 and have been translated into English, Chinese, German, French and Spanish.
There are roughly 8,000 chindogu practitioners in Japan and 1,000 overseas, their ages ranging from 10 to 70, according to Kawakami.
www.japaninc.com /article.php?articleID=762   (716 words)

  
 Chindogu for the Masses
That is to say, Chindogu solves one problem of life but creates a larger one in the process—a tool that exists on the edge of reason.
It's all too real, however, this place where each year 80 or so Chindogu are chosen by Kawakami to receive life at a workbench in the corner.
He illustrates how the American dependence on slicing and dicing devices seems silly to the Japanese, for whom cutting food with a knife is something of a sacred art form.
www.stim.com /Stim-x/0796July/Phenom/chindogu.html   (938 words)

  
 Encyclopedia: Chindogu
Chindogu (珍道具) is the hecka-ancient Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem.
In lay terms, an invention is a novel device, material, or technique.
Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change.
www.nationmaster.com /encyclopedia/Chindogu   (711 words)

  
 Chindogu - ArtPolitic Encyclopedia of Politics : Information Portal   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Chindogu is the not-so-ancient Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem.
However, Chindogu has a distinctive feature : anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions, would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that - in effect - it has no utility whatsoever.
Literally translated, 'Chindogu' means weird / unusual ('chin') tool ('dogu').
www.artpolitic.org /infopedia/ch/Chindogu.html   (464 words)

  
 Femalemuscle.com presented by Lori Victoria Braun   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions for a life of ease and hilarity have taken the land of the rising sun by storm.
The art of chindogu was born in the late 1980's when amateur inventor Kenji Kawakami discovered that a not-quite-usable idea for a new gadget or product could nonetheless be enjoyable if one were to create a prototype and take delight in the way it misses its mark.
Tthe term 'chindogu' entered the english vocabulary in 1991 when then senior society member Dan Papia (president of Chindogu Society America) published an article on the subject in japan's leading english-language magazine, the 'Tokyo Journal'.
www.femalemuscle.com /archive/9-04-04.html   (509 words)

  
 David Seah : A Chindogu Clock for Procrastinators
Chindogu - The Japanese Art of Creating Almost Useless Objects » Early Morning Navel Gazing
[…] A Chindogu Clock for Procrastinators Setting one’s clock ahead by 15 minutes is a useful trick for procrastinators.
If you’ve got a 3-page paper that will take you 3 hours to write, but you always seem to procrastinate just enough to always be late in turning it in, this is your solution: It’s guaranteed to be up to 15 minutes fast.
davidseah.com /archives/2007/01/17/a-chindogu-clock-for-procrastinators   (5133 words)

  
 Mad in Japan - News - www.smh.com.au
His works even inspired the International Chindogu Society, which is based in the US and has about 10,000 members.
But one of Kawakami's 10 tenets of Chindogu is that inventions are useless.
Typically, a Chindogu is more trouble than it's worth, solving one problem, but creating another.
www.smh.com.au /news/News/Mad-in-Japan/2005/02/02/1107228738665.html   (614 words)

  
 No. 1460: Chindogu
Chindogu is part Zen, part Rube Goldberg, and part Sharper Image.
One is that Chindogu must reveal the spirit of anarchy.
The last principle is that Chindogu cannot be patented.
www.uh.edu /engines/epi1460.htm   (523 words)

  
 Chindogu -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
However, Chindogu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions, would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social (The shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made public) embarrassment, that effectively it has no (The quality of being of practical use) utility whatsoever.
In spite of the stipulation that Chindogu should not be used for satirical ends, Kawakami himself does appear to regard them as a kind of antidote to (A movement advocating greater protection of the interests of consumers) consumerism, and the Western obsession with making life as 'easy' as possible.
There is a nicely put-together selection of Chindogu
www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/c/ch/chindogu.htm   (426 words)

  
 :: Metropolis Tokyo :: FEATURE - Uninventing the wheel
Chindogu are inventions aimed at making life easier, but they flunk in magical fashion.
The fact that Chindogu can’t be sold is more than a defining feature, it’s one of the rules of the game as drawn up by their progenitor.
The art of Chindogu, he says, is a rejection of the straightjacket of capitalistic utility, an anarchic antithesis to modern consumer culture that can enrich people’s lives and bring them closer together.
metropolis.japantoday.com /tokyo/524/feature.asp   (6175 words)

  
 Chindogu - Japanese Art of Invention
Thus, Chindogu are sometimes described as 'un-useless' - that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called 'useful'.
The term was coined by Kenji Kawakami, a Japanese inventor and writer who first made the idea prominent in a book translated into English, in the mid-nineties, as 101 Un-useless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindogu.
There is frequently humor in a Chindogu, of course, but this should properly be regarded as incidental, rather than as an end in itself.
www.japan-101.com /culture/chindogu_invention.htm   (619 words)

  
 The hay fever hat
Chindogu are inventions that seem like they're going to make life a lot easier, but don't...
This Chindogu challenges one of the last bastions of sexual inequality, and allows Father to experience the joy of nourishing his baby from his own body - almost.
This one addresses several anxieties of the underground snoozer: Firstly it conceals his or her identity, hides an open mouth, and even goes some way towards muffling the sound of snoring.
home.bawue.de /~jtesch/chindogu.html   (440 words)

  
 International Chindogu Society
Do you know what a chindogu is. Well, dogu is Japanese for "tool" and chin is Japanese for "weird" (not to be confused with the Japanese for "penis", which is also chin).
The Wombat News Center is teaming up with the International Chindogu Society to present to the internet society the quasi-official, semi-lifelike chindogu virtual homepages.
The first 10 (count 'em, TEN!) chindogu are already online, and in the coming days, these pages will be expanded to bring even more real-live pictures and descriptions of chindogu into your home, tell you how to order chindogu, and best of all invite you to join the rapidly growing International Chindogu Society.
www.pitt.edu /~ctnst3/chindogu.html   (521 words)

  
 Amazon.com: Books: 99 More Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindogu   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Chindogu is an exacting art, and the rules for its creation can be found in the front of the book.
Chindogu is the Chaos Theory put to everyday use.
Chindogu is not some ancient Japanese art form analogous to flower arranging or a tea ceremony.
www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393317439?v=glance   (1247 words)

  
 The Comatorium Community > Chindogu   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
Jul 26 2004, 05:52 AM This is a book full of chindogu.
Chindogu are Japanese inventions that follow the following ten rules:
Jul 26 2004, 11:24 PM This is a very cool chindogu.
www.thecomatorium.com /board/lofiversion/index.php/t18871.html   (664 words)

  
 International Chindogu Society
Do you know what a chindogu is. Well, dogu is Japanese for "tool" and chin is Japanese for "weird" (not to be confused with the Japanese for "penis", which is also chin).
The Wombat News Center is teaming up with the International Chindogu Society to present to the internet society the quasi-official, semi-lifelike chindogu virtual homepages.
The first 10 (count 'em, TEN!) chindogu are already online, and in the coming days, these pages will be expanded to bring even more real-live pictures and descriptions of chindogu into your home, tell you how to order chindogu, and best of all invite you to join the rapidly growing International Chindogu Society.
www.chindogu.com   (512 words)

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