tables – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Fri, 30 Aug 2024 01:04:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 tables – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 Defying gravity and common sense with the lowest-rated tensegrity table on Amazon Japan https://soranews24.com/2024/08/30/defying-gravity-and-common-sense-with-the-lowest-rated-tensegrity-table-on-amazon-japan/ https://soranews24.com/2024/08/30/defying-gravity-and-common-sense-with-the-lowest-rated-tensegrity-table-on-amazon-japan/#comments Thu, 29 Aug 2024 17:30:02 +0000 https://soranews24.com/?p=676709 
This table defies a lot of things, but gravity isn’t one of them.
If you’ve been scrolling through social media in the past several months, you probably would have come across a picture of a tensegrity table. These are the types of tables whose weight pulls down on a central chain while simultaneously pulling upward on the chains on the edges. The two forces balance each other out but since the chains are all oriented in the same direction, it gives the illusion that the table is floating.
If you haven’t seen one of these things we’ll give you a look shortly… we hope. The fact is, we entrusted this job to Masanuki Sunakoma and as he always does, he decided to purchase the tensegrity table with the lowest rating on Amazon Japan, so the chances of it working properly are not good.
This product is called the Tensegrity Anti-Gravity Device Balance Physics Toy Ornament. Only some of these words accurately describe what it is, but we can’t blame them for putting a little razzle-dazzle to back up the 2,980 yen (US$20) price tag. However, it has received an average rating of only 1.3 stars with comments such as “defective,” “faulty,” and “the worst product ever.”
That seems a little harsh for what’s ostensibly just a table with a rather gimmicky support system. Could they really have screwed something so simple up that bad?
Well, for starters, what you see above is everything that was included in Masanuki’s delivery. Notice that there are no instructions which means he would have to refer to the picture on the Amazon page to put it together.
Among the parts, a mini screwdriver and Allen key were included. The screwdriver was handy and the Allen key was certainly thoughtful since it wasn’t compatible with any of the table’s parts. It seems that it was just a freebie.
As he started attaching the parts to each plate, he noticed that there was some more randomness to what was included. He was short one eye bolt.
And it seems that to make up for the missing eye bolt, he was given nine extra rubber bands for the central support. Extras are nice, but nine was kind of overkill. If only there were instructions to explain what was going on.
Because of the missing eye bolt, Masanuki could only attach three of the four outer chain supports. It seemed like this would throw off the balance but he had no choice.
He attached the rubber band to the central support…
Then lifted the top plate directly above the bottom…
▼ Masanuki: “Ooooh…”
It was a success! Despite the missing part, our writer’s tensegrity table stood upright and appeared to magically float in the air.
You could even say the one loose chain only added to the illusion.
Masanuki began to wonder if the lack of instructions and seemingly random assortment of parts and tools was all by design. Because of it he couldn’t help but feel an extra sense of pride in what he built and marveled at how it appeared to defy the odds in more ways than one.
Of course, a tensegrity table isn’t a table if you can’t put stuff on it. Luckily, this was indeed capable of holding small items.
The one small catch is that they have to be very carefully placed to one side or the whole thing will violently collapse into itself.
Despite the fun and satisfaction Masanuki got out of this product, he can’t recommend it in good conscience. People tend to want reliability in their tables and the lack of structural integrity in this one merely makes it tense.
Related: Amazon Japan
Photos ©SoraNews24
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2024/08/30/defying-gravity-and-common-sense-with-the-lowest-rated-tensegrity-table-on-amazon-japan/feed/ 0 676709 Introducing the nyabudai and nyabon: Matching dining tables sized for you and your cat【Pics】 https://soranews24.com/2021/10/12/introducing-the-nyabudai-and-nyabon-matching-dining-tables-sized-for-you-and-your-cat%e3%80%90pics%e3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2021/10/12/introducing-the-nyabudai-and-nyabon-matching-dining-tables-sized-for-you-and-your-cat%e3%80%90pics%e3%80%91/#comments Tue, 12 Oct 2021 01:00:47 +0000 https://soranews24.com/?p=560491 
And yes, there’s a Japanese pun involved.
Japan is completely unabashed in its love of puns, animals, and cuteness. So when one company realized it had the chance to make a cute animal pun, you’d better believe they took it.
First, let’s talk about this piece of traditional Japanese furniture.
This kind of low table, meant to be used while sitting on the floor, Japanese-style, is called a chabudai. What if, though, you were to change the first two letters from ch to ny? Then you’d have a “nyabudai,” a table with a dash of “nya,” the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat’s meow.
Silly joke? Sure, but it’s also a solid foundation for some adorable furniture.
Necorepa, the lifestyle brand of Japanese rescue cat cafe and adoption organization Neco Republic, wants to add a dash of cat-cuteness to your meal/tea times, and so it’s now offering the nyabudai for sale in three different patterns: calico (“mike”), bicolor (“hachiware”), and white cat/solid (“shironeko”).
At 56 centimeters (22 inches) across and 32 centimeters high, it’s compact enough to work with any interior, and you can also fold up the legs and stow it someplace out of the way if you want when you’re not using it. Those dimensions mean it’s basically a one-person table, but if you’re eating with your special feline friend, there’s also a cat-sized version called the nyabon!
This smaller table is 40 centimeters wide and 8 high, putting whatever tasty treats are on it at an easy height for your pet to enjoy.
Of course, you can use the nyabon for your own stuff too, provided you get your cat’s permission (although, as many cat owners will tell you, “provided you get your cat’s permission” goes without saying for just about anything you want to do in the home your cat allows you to share with it).
▼ The nyabon comes in the same three patterns as the nyabudai.
In addition to being collapsible, both tables also have a strap attached to their edge for easy carrying, should you feel like taking it with you to the park for a picnic and subsequent cat nap.
▼ The nyabon, pictured here, weighs 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) and the nyabudai 3.125 kilograms.
Pre-orders have started bot both designs through the Necorepa online store, with the nyabudai (here) price at 16,900 yen (US$155) and the Nyabon (here) at 11,400 yen. Shipping is scheduled for late December/early January, so yours should arrive just in time for you to sit at it while sipping some hot tea and wearing your Japanese cat cuddle coat.
Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: Pakutaso, PR Times
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2021/10/12/introducing-the-nyabudai-and-nyabon-matching-dining-tables-sized-for-you-and-your-cat%e3%80%90pics%e3%80%91/feed/ 0 560491 NB 1 Retro freak classic game console returns in cocktail table form【Video】 https://soranews24.com/2017/08/18/retro-freak-classic-game-console-returns-in-cocktail-table-form%e3%80%90video%e3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2017/08/18/retro-freak-classic-game-console-returns-in-cocktail-table-form%e3%80%90video%e3%80%91/#comments Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:30:03 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=386470 
Relive the classic games of your childhood on a piece of stylish furniture.
Like myself, having spent/wasted a fairly large proportion of your childhood, you probably need little to no excuse to indulge in classic game nostalgia. While online emulators can bring back some of the magic, the lack of a chunky controller or joystick, not to mention sitting at a computer desk, leaves something missing. A couple of years ago, we brought you news of the retro freak, a system that would allow you to play games cartridges from 11 different classic consoles. The system plugs into your TV with an HDMI cable and then you can dust off your old games cartridges, or raid second-hand games shops, and you’re all set.
Somewhere out there, presumably, there must be gamers who decided that the standard retro freak wasn’t quite enough. The potential to play hundreds or thousands of classic games was all well and good, but what they really wanted was not just a multi-platform system, but one that also doubled as a coffee table. Not only would you be able to play games, but when not in use it could be used to stack magazines, place drinks or serve as a dining table for one person prepared to hunch over quite a bit. Retro freak maker Cyber Gadget has finally responded to this call and produced a stylish cocktail table-style piece of furniture which houses the retro freak system.
▼ The new arcade cabinet gaming system in action
▼ Game installation
The table comes with a built-in controller and 20-inch LCD screen and, thanks to an external USB port, a cartridge games adapter or additional controller can be attached, and games installed.
▼ The cartridge adapter allows you to install games from a number of classic game consoles, including Game Boy, NES/SNES and Mega Drive games.
The cocktail table retro freak went on sale on August 8 with a recommended retail price tag of 139,800 yen (US$1,273 ), but will be available for a limited time at 119,800 yen. The retro freak will only be available to purchase by physically going to the company’s premises in Hachioji in Tokyo. Sales will be limited to a mere nine devices, and it’s as yet undecided whether there will be a further production run. If you think you’d probably like to try out the gaming experience before shelling out a small fortune, the Retro Freak Table will be on display at the Cyber Gadget booth (East2-T18-15) at the 84th Tokyo International Gift Show being held September 6 to September 8.
Source, top and insert images: pccade
Top image: YouTube/大好きなマンアーケード筐体
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