33 Useless Things People Found That Are Funny For No Reason

On the spectrum between useful and useless, there exists a curious middle ground. A place where things are both clever and completely impractical at the same time. Where an invention can make you roll your eyes and admire the engineering behind it in equal measure. That strange space is called chindōgu.

Chindōgu (珍道具) is the Japanese practice of inventing everyday gadgets that appear to solve specific problems but often create just as many new ones. Translated literally, the term means “unusual tool,” from chin (strange) and dōgu (tool).

The concept was coined by Kenji Kawakami, a former editor at the Japanese home-shopping magazine Mail Order Life. In his spare magazine pages, Kawakami began showcasing bizarre product ideas that never stood a chance on the actual market.

Later, Dan Papia introduced chindōgu to the English-speaking world through a monthly feature in Tokyo Journal, encouraging readers to submit their own ideas. In 1995, Kawakami and Papia published 101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindōgu, a book that became a defining collection of the movement’s most iconic creations.

Among those inventions were a combined household duster and cocktail shaker, designed for the person who wants to reward themselves while cleaning, and a full-day tissue dispenser worn like a hat for hay fever sufferers. There was also an all-over plastic bathing suit for people afraid of water, and even a baby outfit that doubled as a floor mop as the child crawled around.

One of the most ironic examples is the selfie stick. It was originally dismissed as a useless invention and later went on to become a global everyday accessory. Few things capture the unpredictable fate of chindōgu better than that.

Of course, something as esteemed as chindōgu could not possibly exist without an official institution to oversee it. That is exactly why Kawakami went on to found the International Chindōgu Society, which manages and promotes the concept worldwide. Through the society’s platform, inventors can submit descriptions of their creations for others to explore.

However, not every silly idea automatically qualifies as chindōgu. The Society established ten official tenets that outline what true chindōgu must follow. A chindōgu must exist, must be usable in theory but not meant for real use, must not be a commercial product, and must not be created purely for humor. It also must not be taboo, discriminatory, or patented.