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Awesome Japan

Ball Bearing Factory

Ball Bearing Factory

It’s all ball bearings nowadays. Given the ubiquity of these smooth-spinning widgets, it’s interesting to see how they’re made. Process X takes us inside the JTEKT Corporation, Japan’s highest-volume ball bearing factory. Watching millions of steel spheres rolling their way through the automated production line is reason enough to hit play. Turn captions on.

Screw-Hinge Higonokami Knives

Screw-Hinge Higonokami Knives

A traditional Japanese Higonokami knife has a permanently riveted hinge. These larger Higonokami knives have a removable screw hinge, which makes them easier to maintain and provides a secure locking mechanism. Each knife is made by alphakogyo with a handcrafted VG10 steel blade. They also sell smaller knives with a classic hinge design.

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Tokyo Cult Recipes

Tokyo Cult Recipes
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Bring the flavors of Tokyo home with Maori Murota’s wonderful cookbook, Tokyo Cult Recipes. It’s packed with more than 100 recipes for Japanese dishes inspired by local restaurants and home cooking. You’ll learn to cook gyoza, ramen, tonkatsu, miso soup, and more. It’s even got sweet treats like mochi and yuzu sorbet.

Indigo Patchwork Bucket Hat

Indigo Patchwork Bucket Hat
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This distinctive bucket hat comes from Tokyo’s Anonymous Ism. It’s made from a patchwork of lightweight cotton chambray in shades of light blue and grey. White contrast stitching makes the patches stand out, and its sturdy brim is densely stitched and has taped seams.

Vaporwave Capybaras

Vaporwave Capybaras

Feeling stressed and uneasy? Have we got the video for you. This unexpectedly relaxing video from newdustthings delivers on its promise by combining footage of capybaras lounging in a Japanese zoo, accompanied by a chill vaporwave playlist. It’s the next best thing to hitting the spa.

Making Japanese Archery Bows

Making Japanese Archery Bows

Yokoyama Reimei has been making Japanese archery bows for more than a century. Their artisans use traditional woodworking techniques to craft 6.5-foot tall bows from burnt bamboo and a wax tree core. They shape each bow by hand (and foot) by bending the wood with rope and bamboo wedges. Process X provides a close-up look at their workshop.

Japan Crate Snack Boxes

Japan Crate Snack Boxes
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Japan Crate hand picks the trendiest treats from Japan and boxes up a different variety of tasty goodies each month for mailings. Filled with colorfully-wrapped individual servings, it’s a party in a box, often including brands like Lotte, Calbee, Kit-Kat, and Crunchyroll in unusual flavors not found stateside. Sold in 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month subscriptions.

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Master-Piece Carabiner Keychain

Master-Piece Carabiner Keychain
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The Japanese-made Master-Piece carabiner keychain clips securely to your belt loop or bag using a custom-made steel and brass clip. Its key loop and split rings are made from brass, and attached to the carabiner with a vegetable-tanned leather strap. Available with beige or chocolate leather.

How Plastic Balls Are Made

How Plastic Balls Are Made

We’re always fascinated by the ways different products get manufactured. In this video from Process X, we take a tour of a factory in Japan that cranks out plastic balls for kids to play with. While the start of the video makes it look like they’re making cake mix, we can assure you that PVC isn’t edible.

Shachihata Connected Number Rubber Stamp

Shachihata Connected Number Rubber Stamp
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This unique modular stamp from Japan’ Shachihata makes it easy to make perfectly aligned calendars for any month. Its individual numbers and days of the week can be snapped together to stamp custom calendars onto paper. Arrange its digits vertically to make numbered lists. Available with English or Japanese day headers.

Hammering Hammerheads

Hammering Hammerheads

We never really thought about it before, but some hammers are made with other hammers. This video from Process X takes us inside a small tool factory in Japan to see how a skilled blacksmith makes various traditional hammer heads by forging steel and shaping each one using a pneumatic power hammer and hand tools.

Suisei Handmade Whiskey Glass

Suisei Handmade Whiskey Glass
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Enjoy every sip of your whiskey in style with this beautiful drinking glass, featuring a design inspired by a comet orbiting the Sun. Each is handcrafted using traditional Japanese techniques, creating a textured surface with an irregular but polished edge. Holds 380 ml. or 12.8 oz., and comes packaged in a wooden container.

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Momotaro Syutsujin Denim Jean Jacket

Momotaro Syutsujin Denim Jean Jacket
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Momotaro’s Syutsujin denim jacket is made in Japan from soft, hand-harvested Zimbabwe cotton, rope-dyed in a deep indigo blue. Its stitching and striped arm have a military look, and its name translates roughly to “go to the front of the battlefield.”

How Coins Are Made

How Coins Are Made

While the use of physical currency continues to dwindle, there’s still a need for coins to be produced. Process X takes us on an in-depth tour of Japan’s only coin factory for a look at how they make coins. The Osaka mint produces six kinds of coins, from aluminum 1 yen coins to the copper, nickel, and zinc 500 yen coins shown in the video.

How Camera Lenses Are Made

How Camera Lenses Are Made

Japan’s Sigma Corporation makes all kinds of camera lenses. Process X takes us on a factory tour for a look at how their interchangeable lenses come together, from polishing glass to assembling tiny components and even hand-painting the dial markings. Production requires precision and cleanliness from start to finish. No wonder lenses are so expensive.

Making Japanese Pancake Balls

Making Japanese Pancake Balls

Are you hungry? Then, you might not want to watch this video of a cook fixing a batch of Japanese spherical pancakes in a specially-designed griddle. The finished product looks delicious, but it’s the precision with which the chef deposits the batter and flings the completed treats out of the mold that makes the clip genuinely satisfying.

Japanese Daruma Factory

Japanese Daruma Factory

A Japanese Daruma doll is a traditional symbol of Zen and Buddhism and is regarded as a bringer of good luck. Process X takes us inside the Gunma Daruma factory, makers of these hollow, round dolls since 1873. They’re cast from a slurry of recycled egg cartons and paper, smoothed, air-dried, and then handpainted in red, black, white, and gold.

Japanese Origami Paper Sheets

Japanese Origami Paper Sheets
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This book of Japanese patterns is great for making your own origami sculptures. It’s packed with 200 sheets of 6-inch paper squares printed with intricate designs in shades of blue and white with solid colors on the back. Great for making collages or papier-mâché projects too.

Rantoge Mechanical Digital Clock

Rantoge Mechanical Digital Clock

Digital clocks typically use LCD or LED screens to display the time. The Rantoge clock uses electro-mechanical components instead. Each digit on the clock is made from a set of flat metal segments, flipped into place using motorized levers. The DIY clock kit blew through its funding goal on Japan’s Machi-Ya crowdfunding site and is heading into production now.

How Pliers Are Made

How Pliers Are Made

We always enjoy watching factory videos showing how everyday items are manufactured. This video from Process X doesn’t disappoint, offering a look inside Japan’s IPS Pliers Co. The factory mass-produces pliers by heating, stamping, and punching steel rods, plating them, bolting together their parts, and then dipping their handles in a PVC coating.

Samurai Natural Indigo Sashiko 5-Panel Cap

Samurai Natural Indigo Sashiko 5-Panel Cap
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Samurai’s unique 5-panel cap stands out from the crowd by incorporating elegant Japanese textiles. It’s made in Japan from lightweight Sashiko cotton knitting threads woven in a rainfall pattern hand-dyed in Indigo, Asagi, and Kinari. The lightweight fabric and inner sweatband help keep you cool and dry on sunny days.

Gramicci by F/CE. Mountain Jacket Coyote

Gramicci by F/CE. Mountain Jacket Coyote
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Gramicci Japan teamed up with F/CE. to create a collection of modern outdoor clothing that’s equally at home in the city and the mountains. The lightweight Mountain Jacket is made from 100% Taslan military nylon and features a zip-and-snap opening, multiple utility pockets, and a dramatic skirted shape. Complete the look with matching cargo pants.

F1 Drivers Compete in Tiny Kei Trucks

F1 Drivers Compete in Tiny Kei Trucks

To celebrate the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix, drivers from Oracle Red Bull Racing battled Scuderia Alpha Tauri competed in this Japanese game show. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez took on Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson in a series of silly driving and cargo-hauling challenges in tiny Kei trucks. Mini-truck bowling looks like a blast.

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