Headwear equipped with a loaded toilet paper dispenser?! What in the world for? Who came up with this and why? More importantly, who in their right mind would walk around with a bog roll on their head? Welcome to the world of chindogu. The Japanese phrase literally translates as “unusual tools,” but what is it all about? Today PingMag catches up with chindogu inventor Kenji Kawakami of the Chindogu Society of Japan to learn all you will ever need to know about chindogu.
Written by Ryoko
Translated by Kevin Mcgue
To jump right to the heart of the matter, what are chindogu?
To put it briefly, they are tools that wind up being more inconvenient than convenient. (Laughs) I’ll show you an example. This is the “Electric Fork.” Go ahead and give the button a push.
In our world, all technology is progressing, right? So I thought why not take a simple fork and make it electric. Using this fork, with a single flick of the switch you can effortlessly wind up spaghetti. The only drawback is that the spaghetti sauce goes flying everywhere. So the end result is that it really is better not to use it. And that is what “chindogu” means. It isn’t something that anyone would actually use, but it has to be a tool that a person could use.
So how did you get started making chindogu?
Years ago, I was working as a freelance editor, writing for magazines and working on some scripts for the animated series Calimero. I started my own production company, and one of my first projects, for a certain magazine, was coming up with the concept of chindogu. The response was greater than I could have ever imagined, and chindogu really took on a life of their own.
A young inventor in the making. Kawakami with a paraglider he made of tent material
Didn’t you study aerospace engineering?
I have liked airplanes since I was a child, and when I was in high school I made a kind of paraglider. I loved planes and thought that I would like to do some kind of work relating to them. However, I entered college in 1967, which was the beginning of the whole student movements, and that ideology had a huge influence on me. Not long after I got into school, I dropped out to join the movement. I had always been interested in literature, and so I started to write for magazines as a way of supporting myself.
By the way, do you make the chindogu yourself?
I started making chindogu 17 years ago, and there must be around 700 of them by now. I have made every one of them by myself. I have always been good at making models, so making the chindogu has been easy.
A good idea? Toilet roll hat for those with serious sniffles.
I heard that you also accept ideas from amateur inventors…
Yes, but I don’t often get ideas that are fully formed. I take some of the ideas that are sent in and try to make them more interesting. For example, the toilet paper headgear came from an idea to put a roll of paper on the chest or hang it from the waist. That would simply be too convenient, which isn’t what chindogu is all about. So my idea was to put it on top of the head. At first glance, it seems that it is more convenient, because the paper is positioned closer to the nose, but it would be very difficult to actually use.
Chindogu have enjoyed a huge amount of attention outside Japan…
After I had made a certain amount of chindogu, I collected them together in a book. Soon after, a reporter from the BBC came to interview me. Thanks to that interview, I was able to bring out an English-language edition of the book, and I was surprised to see chindogu had gained popularity around the world. There are now German, French, Spanish, and Chinese editions of the book, and the Korean version just came out last year.
Advertisement for foreign editions of Kawakami’s books.
A colorful poster for an English-language edition.
Have people’s reactions to Chindogu been different in different countries?
Surprisingly different. In America and Japan, they are seen as entertainment. For some reason, in Korea, Canada, and Australia, they are thought of a science, and in Europe, they have been hailed as “as a new form of Dadaism,” and “contemporary art.”
Want to eat a full-course meal, but only have a small table? You may need the “Dish Tower.”
Can you guess what this is? This expandable flyswatter can nab flies in mid-air, but is not very good at getting resting flies.
But it seems that chindogu do recall some of the concepts of Dadaism and Surrealism by rejecting preconceived ideas and common sense…
Yes. I think so. I actually have made the “Chindogu Ten Commandments,” which are:
- A chindogu must not actually be used
- It must have some function.
- It must have an anarchic element.
- It must be a tool for everyday life.
- It must not actually be put on the market.
- It must not be only for the purpose of humor.
- It must not be for black humor.
- “Dirty” jokes are forbidden.
- It must not be for profit.
- It must be usable internationally.
Even before starting to make chindogu, I have been thinking about these “ten commandments” since my days in the student movements of the 1960s. I first came up with with chindogu as a special project for a magazine, so I was not too concerned about how people would receive them. But actually, I think of chindogu as “an intellectual game to stimulate anarchic minds,” or a physical manifestation of my way of thinking.
Want to be friendly to the environment while on the go? Strap on these recycling bins and take them with you everywhere.
The “Tossed Trash Bin” - you are sure to get your trash in the bin even when tossing it from a distance.
Can you give me an concrete example of your “intellectual game”?
This is an extreme example, but more money is spent on fashion in Japan than in any other country, and you can see 14 or 15-year old girls buying Louis Vuitton bags. They are expressing their identity through material things. I am not saying that beautiful clothes or designer bags are necessarily bad, but I want to have my own sense of identity even if I don’t have things.
So I have intellectual games to confirm to myself who I am. For example, if a flathead fish and sole have a baby fish, what kind of head would that baby fish have? Of the 6.7 billion people in this world, there might be as many as 30 people thinking about such a question at a given moment. I think about such things as a way of affirming my own identity. Chindogu give form to such thoughts.
Are you particular about how you design your chindogu?
Inventions can be designed digitally or in analog. Chindogu are all designed analog. With digital design, it is like putting input into a black box and getting output, but without seeing the process in the middle. But with analog design, you can see the process, right? For example, in the children’s TV program Pythagora Switch you can see their Rube Goldberg Machines that take a marble through a very complex maze, and you can see everything. I think that kind of thing is very interesting.
Chindogu are also a form of expression. For example, these “shoe umbrellas” are very colorful and cute, aren’t they? I thought a lot about the color and shape, and also how to make them properly. I am not interested in weekend D.I.Y. quality work. My goal is to construct things of such quality that you wouldn’t be surprised to see in a department store. I don’t use cardboard or polystyrene, but use metals and plastics to make them look genuine. The only thing is they are not for sale… (laughs)
The names you give your chindogu are pretty descriptive.
The chindogu themselves are extreme and anarchic, so I throw a straight ball with the names. Right now I am working on the “Alarm Clock Headphones,” which is just what the name says it is. When coming home from an office party, someone could fall asleep on the train and miss their stop. If you set an alarm clock, you would also wake up the people sleeping on either side of you, so I came up with the alarm clock headphones. I thought this one would be a pain to actually make, so I just did an illustration of it. But then everyone told me that just an illustration wasn’t interesting, and it would be better to actually see it. Now I am working on making them, and it is interesting to see something so nonsensical.
Yes, it is much more interesting and powerful to actually be able to see and touch the items. Since we are almost out of time, do you have any final comments for our readers?
This spring I will be holding a chindogu exhibition in Korea, which will help to spread chindogu around the world. I hope that people will be able to see chindogu as a way of changing their way of thinking.
Kenji Kawakami, thanks for sharing your wonderful chindogu with us! We look forward to what you come up with next!
28 Comments
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Kawakami is a GOD!!
Posted by: nyuudo on January 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
haha this gave me a much-needed laugh! what a wonderful idea to bring back irrelevance and humour!
Posted by: Angie on January 11th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Its really an interesting collection.
Funny but cool ideas!
Posted by: Paavani on January 12th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I love this article, but that “hairstopper” breaks a couple of the commandments. It is sold commercially in Japan and has a useful purpose: they are meant to be worn by children to keep the water and soap out of their eyes when having their hair shampooed!
Posted by: starweeper on January 12th, 2008 at 5:51 am
I saw two-way shoes, funnel glasses, and shoe umbrellas in Carelman’s “Catalogue d’objets introuvables” in the early 80s. http://www.amazon.fr/Catalogue-dobjets-introuvables-Carelman/dp/2253047783 I recommend this little book.
Posted by: Orestes on January 12th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Chindogu are still alive ! LoLz
Posted by: james | studiosushi on January 12th, 2008 at 7:48 am
The dish tower looks like something I would use..
But my favourite would have to be the ping pong paddles. Hilarious!
Posted by: Jessica on January 12th, 2008 at 8:20 am
i had idea for a cup of coffee which is also mobile phone. called the coffee-phone! you can dial from the cup drink and listen.
Posted by: minako on January 12th, 2008 at 8:37 am
i have idea for a cup of coffee which is also mobile phone - called the coffee-phone!
you can dial from the cup drink and listen.
Posted by: minako1 on January 12th, 2008 at 8:38 am
LOL cool!
@minako1: what if you accidentaly burn your face while using the celphone? Haha
Posted by: Akai on January 12th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
cool ideas
but I wonder if it sells haha
Posted by: arman on January 12th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Form always has to equal function, the only rule in design!!!
If the form does, then there is always someone to buy….
Posted by: ANNA ANTONIADES on January 12th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
The dish tower in particular is referenced in Fletcher’s “The Art of Looking Sideways” as a real product, which he and other guests were served a ‘vertical dinner’ in at a friend’s house.
Posted by: LeMel on January 13th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Wonderful ^^ Great interview, by the way.
Posted by: Yuu on January 13th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I’m scared.
Posted by: japan photos on January 13th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
love all of it!
great site
Posted by: jessica on January 15th, 2008 at 12:59 am
wow, i remember seeing this on a childrens tv show called ‘itll never work’ in the uk when i was little.
good to see theyre still hard at work!
:)
Posted by: kate on January 15th, 2008 at 5:17 am
It’s great to see these no-sensible products being made. There is a lovely feeling of the absurd about them, products made to make our lives worse not better. Long may they continue to be made.
Posted by: MiNGLED on January 15th, 2008 at 8:34 am
these unuseless items may seem pretty foolish, but they do show the endless creativity and observation of little daily bits and pieces. if taken seriously, any of those chingdoku can turn out to be greatest inventions of all time! gosh so CREATIVE share me some of those brain juice with me sensai :P
Posted by: mariya marie on January 18th, 2008 at 12:59 am
lol thats real a great things to creat ,freaky+cute enjoy guys with life
Posted by: fofo on January 18th, 2008 at 5:56 am
[...] PingMag - Chindogu: Form or Function? [...]
Posted by: – Anpanpon :P blog not bread – » Blog Archive » Chindogu: New Dada? on January 18th, 2008 at 10:17 am
[...] Na PingMagu rozmowa z człowiekiem, dla którego problem „forma czy funkcja” rozwiązuje się trochę inaczej. Polecam lekturę: http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/11/chindougu/ [...]
Posted by: Labray.blog » Blog Archive » Kenji Kawakami – człowiek, który wymyśla on January 20th, 2008 at 3:52 am
looks pretty much like duchamp to me. this was bleeding-edge stuff about a hundred years ago!
Posted by: josh on January 26th, 2008 at 1:49 am
amazing.
truely amazing.
Posted by: Rubezz on February 20th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
that wa sgreat too look at !!!
Posted by: olivia meester on November 12th, 2008 at 7:32 am
thats the fukin best inventions ive ever seen bro keep on doin them sexy pants!!!!
ping cach ya later mother licker!!
Posted by: olivia meester on November 12th, 2008 at 7:33 am
[...] Headwear equipped with a loaded toilet paper dispenser?! What in the world for? Who came up with this and why? More importantly, who in their right mind would walk around with a bog roll on their head? Welcome to the world of chindogu. The Japanese phrase literally translates as “unusual tools,” but what is it all about? Read the full story>>> [...]
Posted by: Kevin Mcgue - Tokyo-Based Journalist & Filmmaker » Chindogu: Form or Function? on March 3rd, 2009 at 11:03 pm
[...] ça, on en redemande ! >>> Rejoignez l’International Chindogu Society >>> Un inventaire très chindogouesque >>> Une autre invention japonaise pour dormir dans le [...]
Posted by: Des lunettes pour éplucher les oignons - Bonne Nouvelle ! - Blog LeMonde.fr on August 28th, 2009 at 7:59 pm