Japan is a wondrous place. Those of us who have never spent time there might think of it as rather quirky.

Of course, the Internet is the place to find the weirdest things from any place, so it’s easy to let photos reinforce our stereotypes.

These 10 things are some of the more creative and ponderous inventions we’ve seen come out of Japan, but use them to get a good chuckle, not to reinforce your ideas that the Japanese are any different from you.

1. Square watermelons

Americans seem to think that Japan is so cramped that everything needs to be cube-shaped so it can fit.

While we certainly get a kick out of these square watermelons, they’re actually just ornamental and often given as gifts. They can sell for as much as $100.

2. Indoor beach

Opened in 1993, the Seagaia Ocean Dome was an enormous indoor beach at the Sheraton Seagaia Resort.

It was demolished a few years ago, but with the way the environment is faring these days, we might all be swimming under a dome someday.

At least you won’t get a sunburn!

3. Umbrella shoes

Have you ever had on really nice shoes – suede ones, for example – and gotten caught in a rainstorm?

Well, these tiny little umbrellas will at least save the tops of them!

These do exist, but they’re really more of a gag gift that’s gone viral. You really won’t see these on the streets of Japan, sadly.

4. Hair guard

Well, a hair tie would also be a way to solve this problem, but maybe you’re a really messy noodle eater and need more of a barrier (trust us, that’s a world-wide phenomenon).

Yet another viral and purposely useless invention, it is nevertheless pretty amusing.

Now if you really want something useful, may we recommend this noise-cancelling fork that masks the sound of people eating? That’s the real menace!

5. Sweeping slippers

Hey, plenty of people in the U.S. buy mop slippers, so how are you going to judge these sweeping shoes?

Maybe it’s time we let you in on a true Japanese cultural phenomenon – chindogu, inventions that are wild but not necessarily useless.

6. Subway saver

Another Japanese cultural curiosity is the practice of inemuri, or taking naps in public places. It’s supposedly a sign of a hard worker.

But this device just looks like a way to break your neck.

Is this chindogu? Well, that depends on if it abides by the tenets set down by inventor Kenji Kawakami and his International Chindogu Society. For starters, it must exist (that is, someone has to build it) and be almost completely useless.

Check and check!

7. Robot hotels

The Japanese have been more accepting of robotic devices, but that doesn’t make these robotic hotel assistants commonplace.

Japan did, however, create the first robot hotel. But just to give you an idea of how not mainstream it was (or wasn’t), it had to lay off half of its “staff” (yes, the robotic ones) earlier this year because they just created more work for the humans.

8. Umbrella locker

We’re just going to say it – we are SO on board with this idea.

Yes, it might cause you to forget your umbrella, but isn’t that going to happen anyway if you’re walking through, say, a shopping center and need to keep putting it down?

The Japanese do tend to carry umbrellas more often than Americans do, but that’s simply because they’re smart and use them to block the sun.

9. Ear explorer

Frankly, this just seems like a bad idea – mostly because people aren’t likely to limit its use to their ears.

This might be a good time to remind you not to stick things in your ears either.

Good thing it’s sold out.

10. Hello Kitty melon

Just like the watermelon, these are made to be high-end gifts, not everyday grocery items.

They’re made by carving a face onto the melon a month before it’s harvested. Only a few hundred were sold for $51/each.

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