Funny Invention — Creativity or Tradition ?

A toy and the Computer-game manufacturer Bandai

announced a new product called [Smart Pants] a day

or two ago in Japan. It is a cover to protect

the Home-key on iPhone.

As the photo shows, they are the small pants to put on

an iPhone —– I don’t know if Apple says it is an insult.

Ha ha ha. 😀

It is a simple item, you don’t need to use any of your

brain to figure out what it is.

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A sort of stereotype, you might think Japanese is a serious decent people though,

don’t forget they are the creator of many notorious Anime Characters or gaming

figure such as Pokemon too !

So that a kind of people who interested in such as Zen culture, and the fan of Japanese Comics /

Manga has been having completely different perception toward them.

—– And then, when those people visited there, they utterly amazed by the mixture of their

real face. —– So, in certain extent, even a monk in a temple speaks like a character

in a comics or to say they resort to the colloquial expression what the people speak.

—– in fact even a son of priest grown up with those comics and the games when

he was a child. 😀

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So, if you are knowledgeable to The Zen culture or Japanese tradition, you are rightly to say,

what on earth, how the same Japanese able to conceive and created such outrageous characters.

= it is because your study has been one-sided, ignoring such as the popular culture

among the population, even in the Shogun era = Edo period.

(You might have seen hugely exaggerated Pornographic Utamaro printing, which has been mass

produced and widely circulated right under the nose of Samurai Authority  🙂 )

Heavily Buddhist’s Feudal Society didn’t exclude or suppressed the creativity of the people.

In fact, the ruling class, even some of the local Lords were showing off and enjoying their

extravagance, such as Lord Date was famous of his extremely flashy colourful Kimono and

organizing extravagant parties even attended by the Shogun.

= hence the word Date was established to describe Flashy fashion and such a person.

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Well known Kabuki Theatre, the word Kabuki originated from a word Kabuku

= incline (or even twisted) —– extreme costume, the exaggerated make-up

and the special way of voicing created a kind of caricature on the stage.

= utterly unrealistic still realistic in symbolic way.

This kind of double meaning and the double context is always in the Japanese culture such as

in the Poetry and in Haiku.

The more talking about the full blossom of Cherry, it is in fact emphasizing

the fragility of human existences.

So, while producing something serious, in the same time giving a hint of mocking

was seen as a wit or humour and often it was used as satire against the authority.

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In this long tradition,  Japanese are pretty good to conceive utterly outrageous fun.

The design of Humanoid Robot was started in this context. And the pretty outrageous but

utterly useless Chin-Hatsumei / 珍発明 (Funny invention) is to name but few of

those example. 😀

So, when Bandai got a project to design a protective cover for iPhone, to conceive a pants

wasn’t a big leap for them. (I know, they are pants  :-D)

You might say, it is not in a good taste or very decent etc etc —– but, otherwise it didn’t

create a stir nor took your attention. = (Otherwise you didn’t even notice it !)

Whether I would buy or not (before considering it, I have to see, I don’t have iPhone 😀 )

still, it seems a fun.    Why not.    (They are sold about £2 each, but may be only in Japan)

—– strangely you may noticed, a joke or metaphor of Zen Master is often very

direct and bad taste too. 😀    (He might say, such consideration came from

timid small fear)     Why do we need to afraid of PANTS.

I like it. (but except your pants)

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