The Japan Texture series of cases for the iPhone are certainly beautiful if you are into the Japanese style. Downright awesome. Why wouldn’t you want to park your iPhone in one? Well, there are a few reasons. These cases cost more than your actual phone, for one.

Plus, they are covered in lacquer and gold dust, which is sure to come off in a matter of minutes. But if you have some disposable income, the series consists of five case designs that depict art of the Sengoku period. They also come with a storage box and each of the handmade cases takes roughly three weeks to make.

On one hand, you can be saved from certain death in a disaster situation, on the other, a robot must swallow you in order to get you to safety. So do I lay there bleeding or let a robot eat me? Decisions. I think I’ll lay there for awhile, because I don’t know if it has teeth or not.

If you are going to convince people to be rescued by robots, maybe your video should not be titled “Human body shredding machine in Japan”. You know? Drag me, lift me up and throw me, even grab me by the scruff of the neck and carry me to safety, but I ain’t gettin’ in your belly.

The Nintendo DS Classroom will feature around 60 applications which will cover kanji, math, civics, physics and history. These will be available to students in junior high and high school in 2010. The idea is that the students will be able to do their homework, take tests, and even get real-time feedback from the teachers.

The system will be shown off in Osaka at the New Education Expo 2009 this month. This is one DS that you won’t get in trouble with at school, but it’s one that you will not be thrilled to use.

Next time you get a call, it might be TMI. See, this here fancy new john wants a word with you. The convo will go something like this, “Hey John. It’s me, your crapper. It’s about your stool…You might want to sit down…Hahaha I slay myself. Just a little toilet humor. But seriously, you gotta lay off the beans buddy… The janitor had to spray twice since you left.”

We’ll it could go down that way. New toilets by Inax will keep an eye on your health and inform you about it via cell phone. It analyzes your stool. Then, a report on your deuce is beamed to a personalized URL or your phone via infrared.

How do you get tourists to visit your land? Make it very clear that there is a chance that a giant robot and squid will battle it out during your stay. That’s apparently what the city of Hakodate, Japan was thinking. They’ve been producing official tourism videos unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

They’re action-packed and feature famous landmarks as giant robots battle a mechanical squid hijacked by aliens. It’s pretty awesome. I don’t know if I’ll visit anytime soon, but I sure enjoyed the flick. First video below.

Hey Chipmunk cheeks. Ya, you with the fat face. You’ve tried everything, yet you can’t seem to get your face to shed those pounds huh? Diets don’t work, so it’s time for the Japanese Face Slimmer. It’s basically a mask you wear that hugs your face and they claim it will change your face size somehow.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that this is a bunch of BS. The only thing it will accomplish is to send your friends and loved one running for the hills, wondering where you are hiding the machete. Still, if you really really want to try it, go for it. Just don’t go wearing it while walking around a summer camp. It will only start a new urban myth, where the killer wears a face slimmer mask.

While this isn’t the most mind blowing console mod we’ve ever seen, this paint job gives your Xbox 360 a bit of Japanese flair. It was painted by deviantART member Ricepuppet and it looks like a pretty faithful Domo-kun themed console.

The console is pretty cool all by itself, but it even has it’s own matching controller, which we assume is functional. Hopefully the user won’t mess up the paint job while playing a shooter. It looks hungry and I bet it’s eyes seem to watch you while you are playing.

If there’s one thing people hate and fear, it’s needles.(Aside from snakes and politicians) There’s some good news. A Japanese inventor has created a needle-free and painless injection that will allow you to get your vaccinations without fear. It even has a nice name. “Mother’s Kiss” uses tiny plastic ampules to deliver medicine. I hear ya. It’s painless, but it must be expensive.

Nope. It’s cheaper and safer than regular syringes, which also makes it perfect for developing countries, because shared needles spread diseases like crazy. Assuming they can get costs down low enough, you may soon see this in your doctor’s office. Though I’m sure he’ll just find another way to scare you.

The Japanese are ahead of us in everything, even Fridge tech. Not only do they like to spray snow to deodorize things, they also like their fridges to emit vitamin C. Hitachi fridges, that is. The idea behind their new fridges seems sound enough. The R-Y6000 releases Vitamin C into the air inside to keep your food fresher.

Apparently this is possible because Vitamin C helps meat keep it’s color longer and also slows down nutrient loss in vegetables and fish. The wonder fridge also has a filter to help prevent mold. And six drawers. We typically have two here. It has a volume of 602 liters and will cost $3,100. 3,000 units will be produced on a monthly basis, until they run out of vitamin C and have to resort to squeezing oranges inside.

Here’s something else to complain about when it comes to Nintendo’s constant need to keep things away from American hands. A new partnership between Nintendo and Fujifilm is spawning the Wii Digicam Print Channel, which is immediately available for Japanese Wii consoles to access.

It lets owners upload images from SD cards and get customized prints, photo books, business cards, and more in the mail. I’m not entirely sure why they feel the need to waste resources on this one when people can just use their computer, but I’m sure one or two people will love it. Probably the same people who bought the gameboy printer. It will likely hit North America and Europe at some point in the future.

Apparently all the good and handsome men are taken in Japan. I guess that’s why Japan’s women are finding romance with this virtual man called the “Handsome Man Bank”.

It comes in girl-friendly pink or white, with an LCD display that will show 5 handsome men. It costs about $50 and he’s a player alright. A real smooth guy with lines like “Can I kiss you?” or “May I rub your shoulders?” But at the end of the day he’s all talk, leaving some longing and needful Japanese women all hot and bothered. Should have come with another accessory for this phase I guess.

Researchers at Tohoku University have reportedly figured out a way to “multiply the amount of data that can be stored on a DVD or CD by 9.” Apparently, it works by shaping the pits on a DVD’s surface like Vs, essentially allowing you to get more out of the disc. The problem is that existing DVD & CD players won’t recognize the media made in this way, and for some reason the process can’t be applied to Blu-ray Discs. Still pretty cool though.

The Japanese have done a ton of wacky things they should be ashamed of gadget-wise and otherwise. Now they’re getting into politics to sell phones and the result is bizarre. This commercial for Japan’s EMobile cellular company has a monkey dressed up in a suit, at a podium in front of a crowd.

The crowd is holding signs that read “Change.” At the end, the monkey cries a tear, clearly ashamed as he should be. Bad monkey. Their intentions may or may not have been entirely innocent, but we all know that if this aired in America there would be hell to pay.

Those who live in Japan never know when the next big earthquake is going to hit. So the order of the day is to be prepared. Be prepared for the earthquake and if you have pets, be prepared to be a sucker and get them a cat or dog survival suit. It comes with a few essentials and a few items strictly thrown in to get your sucker money.

The items? Water & Biscuits which of course are required for your pet’s survival. Aromatherapy oils…so your pet can be safe from the smell of death in a disaster? Four rubber shoes for their delicate feet…Presumably so Fido won’t hurt his little feet on the rubble everywhere. They even throw in some sealed bags…for some reason. And of course, the flame retardant carrying case with storage pockets.

Sometimes keyboards don’t look all that typical these days. Just looking at this bright-colored flowery thing, I’m half blind and now feel all girlly. Where are my Polly Pocket toys? hmmm. I’d say this is a good alternative for those who don’t like the Optimus keyboard from Art Lebedev, but want something outrageous still.

The Nishi-Ki keyboard will save you a bundle in the process as it retails for $153. Each and every butterfly-lovin’ key is painted in tiny flower scenes, and the whole thing measures just a foot long, so it’s not for those with large hands. It looks like a large tile game.