Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2012

In the tradition of useless inventions from these shores, the SmartHan (¥840; www.takaratomy-arts.co.jp/specials/smarthan) onigiri maker and eating device allows you to do something you have never managed before. Eat a rice ball on the go. Though perhaps the main purpose is to avoid your average salaryman or OL having to get their hands dirty while preparing the classic 8am-in-the-office pick-me-up. These long-awaited, crucially necessary plastic devices, reminiscent of some kind of sado-masochistic plunging device, come in slender orange for women and meaty blue for men. As they say in the ad, “Rice one!”