Blanket heater table
The Japanese kotatsu combines a table, a heater, and a layer of comfortable blankets.
Category: East Asia
American samurai colony
In 1869, some samurai and their families set up a colony in California. Although it only lasted two years, it was the first permanent Japanese settlement in the United States.
Pierced buildings
A highway goes directly through the Gate Tower Building in Osaka, Japan; a monorail line goes directly through an apartment block in Chongqing, China.
Dancing plant
The leaves of Codariocalyx motorius move fast enough that you can see their motion. This plant likes to dance.
Pig toilet
The pig toilet was once a key sanitation building in rural China, Korea, and India. It was ruthlessly efficient, combining a toilet for people with a sty for pigs.
Buddhist poetry contest
According to the Platform Sutra, the fifth patriarch of Chan Buddhism held a poetry contest to determine his successor. But it became a contest for the soul of Chan Buddhism itself.
Nose tomb
The Mimizuka monument in Kyoto, Japan, is full of Korean noses. It is a hanazuka, a nose tomb.
Mario’s surname
The Nintendo video game character Mario has gone through a number of name changes throughout the years – including, controversially, whether he has a surname or not.
Statue graveyards
When politicians’ historical crimes catch up with them, what happens to their statues?
Multilingual tautologies
What do the River Avon, the Gobi Desert, and the La Brea Tar Pits have in common? Redundancy.
Unseen regalia
The Imperial Regalia of Japan consists of a legendary sword, mirror, and jewel. They are brought out at every imperial enthronement, but only a few priests and the emperor himself are ever allowed to see them.
Ghost leg
Ghost leg is a technique to randomly match up two groups – assigning a list of chores to a list of people, for example. And all you need is a drawing of a ladder.
Fart battle
The He-Gassen scroll of Edo period Japan depicts an epic battle… of farts.
Largest caves
Gruta Casa de Pedra in Brazil has the largest cave mouth in the world – it is higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza. But the largest cave chamber in the world is larger still.
The Leaning Tower of Suzhou
The Tiger Hill Pagoda in Suzhou, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, leans to one side by several degrees.
Sweat genes are made of this
The human gene ABCC11 determines whether your sweat smells bad or not. It also determines whether your earwax is wet or dry.
The Generalist Academy 