The Inexplicably Fascinating Japanese Art of Being Useless | Hacker News Reader

The Inexplicably Fascinating Japanese Art of Being Useless

messynessychic.com

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True factoid: one remarkably useless chindogu was a device that lets you hold a camera at arm's length so you can take a photo of yourself -- now known as the selfie stick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie_stick#History

I have a truly strange relationship with the selfie stick.

On one hand, they are incredibly useful in some circumstances.

On the other, I resent their existence and find anyone (else) using them obnoxious.

My stance is simple: selfie sticks are evil, reachie sticks and monopods are fine.

> True factoid: one remarkably useless chindogu was a device that lets you hold a camera at arm's length so you can take a photo of yourself -- now known as the selfie stick.

A selfie stick with a film camera would have truly been useless. You'd probably only get a photo of some random thing behind you, and only learn of your mistake a week later. It took the invention of digital cameras with front-facing screens to make them practical.

They could have some kind of alignment mechanism extending behind the camera mount.

Affix a small mirror to the camera and calibrate it such that if you see yourself in the middle of the camera you’re also in the middle of the frame.

As they really do with some Instax cameras:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images2500x2500/fujifilm...

Manual focusing and metering means you'd be able to collect the necessary information about exposure, and set the camera up fairly accurately. Once that's done, simply aim the camera properly, and you'll get the shot. Minor corrections can be made in the darkroom.

It takes more work, but that's the nature of film photography rather than the selfie stick.

Lol! It's not digital cameras that created selfie sticks, it's social media. I had a Konica disposable super wide angle camera with a mirror on the front that showed the field of view. And an Olympus with a recessed LED that was only visible if your face was in the field of view. Self portraits are way older than digital cameras!

Self portraits are even older than photography. For example, I saw a self portrait in a gallery painted 200 years ago and realized that it can be called a selfie too.

> A selfie stick with a film camera would have truly been useless. You'd probably only get a photo of some random thing behind you, and only learn of your mistake a week later.

The way selfie sticks work, you holding it and the camera pointing back at you, they tend to put you nicely into the frame, even though you don't get to look at what you're taking a picture of. It's much much more accurate than holding a camera out with your arm.

So I'd say they'd be exactly useful with film cameras, because you're going to be reasonably sure to be in the picture.

>You'd probably only get a photo of some random thing behind you, and only learn of your mistake a week later.

Instantly made me think of Buzz Aldrin's 1966 space selfie - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_selfie#/media/File:Buzz_...

The interesting thing about the Japanese invented selfie stick is that Japanese (in general) don't share selfies. The stick's point is to not have to bother a stranger not to take picture of yourself for self promotion. Culturally Japanese don't like putting pictures of themselves online

Anecdata, but I see selfie sticks in Tokyo used for group photos much more than individual selfies. One presumes that the resulting photo is then shared within the group.

Right. I think the appeal was not letting the photographer out of the group picture, quite the polite reaction if you ask me.

most of the selfie sticks you see in Tokyo are most likely Asian tourists from other countries like China or Taiwan.

Those Japanese that do use them would share with theur group but would likely not post publically. That means sharing via private messaging a not posting on a more public news feed

https://web.archive.org/web/20150109130439/http://news.distr...

Here's the story about it

Reminds me of The Uncomfortable, a more recent project. I really enjoyed these!

https://www.theuncomfortable.com

Reminds me of coffeepot for masochists (c. 1969)

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/impossible-objects

Nice. Love stuff like this.

As featured on the cover of Don Norman's book "the design of everyday things", which I'd recommend to anyone involved in designing or building things to be used by people

And strangely enough it gave the title to the book in some countries, in Italy it is "La caffettiera del masochista".

I think the "uncomfortable champagne glasses" would make a great party game :-)

Hmm somewhat scary that I thought "hey, those earrings with earplugs, and the funnel glasses for eye drops, those seem pretty useful!"

And while I don't think they sell that "lipstick mask", an eyebrow stencil is an actual product that is basically the same thing for your eyebrows.

I'm pretty interested in the real products that millions of people buy that are actually useless.

Like all the cosmetics and supplements that don't actually improve anything.

I am of a generation of Brits that have known about chindogu since childhood in the mid 90s thanks to the excellent children’s TV program It’ll Never Work - a program about inventions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27ll_Never_Work%3F

I’m pretty fed up of seeing the “noodle bib” image recycled constantly.

It’s actually just a shower cap/hat to stop soap getting in kids eyes that’s quite common in Japan. Somebody just put it on their face... I guess as a joke in this instance.

Surprisingly they didn't have the "breastfeeding"-device for dads to let infants suckle milk from dad's "breast".

And, while one of the requirements for chindogu is to not be humorous, some made me chuckle, so maybe it's in the eye of the beholder.

I may be interpreting it wrong, but I don't think the requirement was "don't be humorous", I think it was don't do it just to be humorous. In other words, if the idea is humorous to some, that is fine, but you shouldn't try to create an idea just to fit a joke. Not sure if I've explained that clearly, but hopefully I've got my point across :-)

I was useless long before it was hip! Once again, I am a man ahead of his time.

I recently found a very practical "thing strapped to shoe". While cleaning your hardwood or tile floor, strap a flashlight to your foot and allow it to cast oblique light across the surface. Dirt will immediately be evident on account of the shadows the dirt makes.

http://www.laboiteverte.fr/les-objets-introuvables-de-jacque...

1969. I cherish my copy

Chindōgu is one of the joyful things I love about Japanese culture (along with purposefully odd Engrish on shirts, drunk karaoke, washlets, and walls and walls of vending machines).

One of the delightful things about taking the train in Japan is the mail order catalog you will sometimes find in the seat pocket. It's guaranteed to have several amazingly weird innovations for sale, in line with the toilet roll helmet or the floor mop baby onesie. I've often thought, "I get that this thing can on occasion be somewhat useful to someone somewhere, but how can it possibly be profitable to mass-produce?"

the last one (the "coke pocket protector") has a very functional AMERICAN cousin:

https://bevbuckle.com

Huh apparently my autocorrect thinks AMERICAN should be all caps.

Lol

I meant LOL

I instantly thought of Ron Popeil (Ronco) when I saw this...

1 - Pocket Fisherman, around 1975 2 - Buttoneer, around 1977

I wonder how much effect Popeil had/has on Kawakami.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fh_YwAnv7w [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN2ttNu3F_M

Pretty decent tribute (?) site: http://www.chindogu.com

Reminds me of the Masochist's Teapot

https://goo.gl/images/Wq1Jr1

In the west we have the pizza pouch.

Helps to prevent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori

Idk, I can see someone drawn to introvertism seeing these creations, seeing culture embrace what wast supposed to be ironic self-ridicule as just another commodity. I am not confident that would draw them from the warm embrace of the familiar and unthreatening self-controled domain they choose to occupy.

Hikikomori are just human version of Chindogu.

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