Urawaza power!
We can’t get enough of this first-ever English collection of Japanese tips and tricks
By Kate Rockwood
Published: May 5th, 2008 | 11:35am
Looking for the easiest way to erase some dude’s digits off your hand? Lightly rub a used tea bag against the skin. Want clean, streak-free windows? Ditch washrags in favor of damp newspapers, which contain super-absorbent lignin. Need to keep your plant watered on the cheap while you head out of town? Rest the planter in a water-soaked disposable diaper.
In Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan, Lisa Katayama shares more than 100 of these quick, quirky secrets, touching on everything from how to get gum off your clothes (apply tequila) to how to stay warm longer after a bath (suck on an ice cube). Though this is the first such collection to be published in English, the concept of urawaza is widespread in Japan. The term, meaning a secret trick or unmapped shortcut, originated in the ‘80s, when hidden commands that let video gamers skip levels or become invincible. By the mid-‘90s, the term had spread beyond the world of gamers and into the mainstream. The Ito Family Dinner Table, for instance, featured a weekly line-up of view-generated tips and tricks about ways to use daily objects, and commanded an impressive 30% of the country as its audience.
This slim, energetic book, illustrated by Joel Holland, pairs each daily dilemma with an urawaza and a quick explanation why it works. Flipped through and enjoyed at random or slowly devoured end to end, the book of urawaza proved surprisingly addictive — and left us eyeing our everyday objects in a whole new way.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan (Chronicle Books)
By Lisa Katayama
144 pages
List Price: $14.95
Issue #29
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