Back in the 90s, magazine editor Kenji Kawakami coined the term Chindōgu, literally meaning “unusual tool” and gave birth to a global craze of wonky Japanese inventions that were simultaneously ingenious but also useless. Fast-forward 3 decades to internet-era Marina Fujiwara, who was born right around the time Kawakami was getting ready to publish his book The Art of Chindōgu.
Born in 1993, Marina Fujiwara is a writer and content creator who began making her “wasted creations” in 2013 and posting them to social media. Called Muda-Zukuri (無駄づくり) in Japanese, the creations embody many of the original tenets of chindōgu in that they are tangible and workable creations that are also pointless and, ultimately, humorous.
We’ve included some of our favorites here but you see more of her work on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
