[Enjoying a fine bowl of ramen (slurping encouraged!) with Akiko-san and Risako-chan in Aobadai, near Yokohama, Japan.]

Like many, one of the things that fascinates me about Japan is Japanese design and manufacturing. The frenetic pace of product introductions, coupled with extreme consumer savvy, results in an astonishing array of products with designs and features undreamed of elsewhere. Take the following as an example:

[Is it a soon-to-be-launched module for Space Station Freedom?]

What the heck is it? Has the Japanese "transformer" craze re-surfaced? Is it a relay module from the next-generation Bullet Train? Did someone's Lego creation run amok? Believe it or not, this is a "road warrior's" ultimate travel accessory - a universal telephone adapter that allows you to plug your laptop computer into almost any telephone jack, anywhere in the world! The operating manual probably takes up most of a CD-ROM....

Here are two other fine examples. Rather than playing the "what the heck is it guessing game", I'll tell you up-front that these are two solutions to another "road warrior" problem - how to plug your electric shaver into that bizzare electrical socket found Slovenia?:

[Two clever designs for a universal AC outlet adapter shown in "travel" mode.]

[The two adapters "deployed" for use - assembling them in alternative configurations allows you to use them in different AC outlets throughout the world.]