Is your life lacking a mini-submarine for your goldfish tank? Or do you really need some musical cats to brighten your day? Never fear, Japan has just the thing.
The Tokyo Toy Show offers a smorgasboard of high-tech frippery to bemuse, delight and entertain in equal measure. The annual event, which runs until tomorrow in the Japanese capital, brings together 160 firms from all over the world to showcase the best they have to offer to an expected 160,000 visitors.
Like a doll that has its own Twitter account, or a virtual reality headset that makes the wearer think they are flying through outer space or walking on the surface of a distant planet. Toy makers in rapidly-ageing Japan long ago branched out from targeting children only to aim their offerings also at adults.
One such example of this superannuation strategy is “Licca-chan” - Japan’s homegrown version of Barbie - whose maker Takara Tomy now produces a much-in-demand adult version.
Women in their 20s and 30s snapped up a limited edition version last year, priced at around $100, in three days. But at the Tokyo Toy Show yesterday, but it was gadgets that you could only find in Japan that really caught the eye.
Masayoshi Goto, a spokesman for Takara Tomy ARTS, proudly showed off his company’s set of musical felines.
“When you press the back of these cats, they meow in a scale, so you can play music with them,” he proudly explained.