27 Wonderful Inventions That Solve Those Annoying Little Problems

Japanese corporations have long pooled their funds with government subsidies to achieve what they call "precompetitive research," which spreads the cost but doesn't help innovation. And, as senior executives in Japan are the first to admit, no self-respecting Japanese company sends its best people to these projects. Lackluster novelty only costs less in this scheme. Homogeneous, disciplined Japanese society has all the ingredients to refine concepts better that anyone else, but none of the juices to invent new ones.