Tokyo Gas post-earthquake Bousai Disaster Drops

This seems to be earthquake week at CScout Japan, perhaps inspired by some recent minor Tokyo tremors.

In Japan, most households cook and heat up water with gas. In the case of an earthquake, gas is switched off to prevent fire, and must usually be done manually. Now Tokyo Gas is giving out restart guides printed on retro tins filled with old-style candy called Tokyo Gas Bousai (disaster) Drops.

More than anything, we just really liked the tin design and the…err…colorful iconography. Nothing like some candy after a disaster.

Pictures via KaeruLab

Exidéal LED Esthé bathes you in LED light, looks cool

Japan loves its LED lights, and companies here are certainly good at creating amazing home lighting products with them. Who knew that they had health qualities beyond low power consumption?

Exideal contains 280 LED lights that light up in ten modes of patterns and intensities to bathe your face in the glorious healing power of light and “permeate the vitamins and collagen in your skin and make you beautiful from the inside”.

Users are supposed to sit in front of Exideal and, as shown in the surreal video, stare at the flickering LED patterns as they work their magic. There is, of course, no evidence that colorful flashing lights do anything besides look really cool, or Las Vegas waitresses would be the most beautiful women in the world.

You can begin your own journey to beauty through epileptic seizures for a mere ¥100,000, or about $900.

Exideal homepage

CBC Radio, Spark, QR codes…and CScout. Listen in!

Recently, CScout Japan’s Michael Keferl was interviewed by Nora Young of the CBC radio show Spark, a weekly look at trends and technology that broadcasts from Toronto.

Despite the standard Skype drop-off (or ten), they had a great talk about QR Codes here in Japan and what users can do with them. You can check out the show via podcast, or listen live on CBC Radio One this Wednesday at 11:30 or Saturday at 4:00 EST.

IZAt convertible fashion makes your jacket a tent

Earthquakes are part of the life of every Japanese. Just think of the Tokyo earthquake in 1923 or the Hanshin earthquake in Kobe and Osaka in 1995. Always remembering these, Japanese search for new technology for early warning and prevention from catastrophe. They build earthquake proof houses and prepare at home for sudden emergencies.

Of course, with this being Japan, the style of the products is also important. One of the latest products is the IZAt (Immediate Zip Aid Tarp), fashion that doubles as housing. It’s versatile fashion at its best: Build a shelter, wear them as clothing, or wrap them around wounded people. It has zippers on several parts for “building” different forms, and they can be combined to build even larger structures.

Pictures from excite.jp and IZAt.