Monday, February 7, 2011

Japan: High Tech from Toilets to Tombstones

Japan is high-tech from A to Z. We've got it all: Super high tech toilets, game gear, train systems, vending machines and tombstones.... Tombstones!? Wait! What?...


供養の窓 QR Code in tombstone


Did I also mention that we have some of the best (and most bizarre) blogs in the entire blogosphere? Yeah, we do. I guess Japan being such a cool, fun and bizarro place, it is very conducive to weirdoes and geeks who like to blog (like me). In fact, because Japan is so weird, we could have thousands more blogs and still not be able to cover all the bases.


I've found another great new blog on Japan and I have book marked this one. You might want to book mark it too! It is called Only in Japan and they have a new blog about high tech tombstones that are being marketed in this country by a company in Kofu.


From Only in Japan:


Using cell phones to scan barcodes on the tombstones, families can view photos of their loved ones. The digital tombstones, called ‘Kuyo no Mado’, are made by a company called Ishinokoe.


"Kuyo" means something like "taking care of your deceased loved one." And "no" means "of," "mado" means "window." Something like that. "Kuyo" is one of those words that defy translation into English.  


You can see the company website here. The website is all in Japanese but they have a slideshow that immediately comes up that features this tombstone with the barcode. Interestingly enough, this tombstone has been featured on TV and radio shows all over Japan.


Only in Japan adds a funny comment when they ask, "We wonder when LCD screens will start to appear on tombstones."


Click here to read the rest of the article from Only in Japan and to see a wild video about these tombtones. It's all on a new blog that I highly recommend called Only in Japan!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...