One of the best things about Japan are the unexpected gadgets that find life there. You know what I’m talking about, the cute, tiny things whose sole reason for existance seems to be that they’re utterly adorable. These kinds of treats typically don’t fufill any necessary need, but they do make our lives a bit brighter.

Thankfully, you don’t have to live in Japan to have access to these items. Many online retailers stock some of the cute and unusual gems, so you can own one no matter where you live. And even if you don’t really feel like spending money on one of these charming items, it’s always fun to window shop…

We already know that it’s a fairly common practice in Japan for popular mascot characters to receive their own video games. It happens, and is usually no big deal.

Except in the case of Ochaken, the little Sega Toys tea dogs who could.

These little mascot toys ended up finding substantial success not only as mascots, but as video game stars. The characters have spawned GBA and DS games, as well as an anime series and spin-off Ochaneko (tea cat) characters.

The best part is, due to the genres that the Ochaken games belong to, all the games are import friendly. You can get through the pet sims and platformers without being able to read or speak Japanese…

Bakugan Battle Brawlers, new pre-teen fad, has swept North America thanks to Spin Master’s marketing tour and the Bakugan Battle Masters anime appearing on Cartoon Network. Bakugan is a new card game which involves using cards and spherical characters against other players. The spheres are magnetic, as are special cards, and if things go well during play, the spherical character will land on the magnetic card and transform into a creature for battle. Players battle in an attempt to be the one with the most Holo Sector Points.

In order to promote the Bakugan Battle Brawlers card game, Spin Masters has been holding battle events at Toys “R” Us, Wal-Mart and other stores which carry the toys. The events usually have Bakugan samples for children, instructors teaching people how to play the game, contests, battle arenas set up and, of course, purchasable Bakugan Battle Brawlers toys.