A breakfast butter stick, anyone? This Burt’s Bees-emulating butter dispenser was dreamed up by inventor Kenji Kawakami, the man behind the Japanese Chindōgu craze (chin meaning “curious” and dougu meaning “tool”). In order for an object to be considered Chindōgu, Kawakami stipulated that it must be usable, but not particularly useful—and has to look a bit ridiculous. Other examples include a pair of slippers, one bearing a dustpan on its toe, the other a brush; a toilet roll dispensing headband for those suffering from colds; and a pair of chopsticks with a miniature electric fan attached for cooling hot noodles as you eat.
