5 Twisted Business Ideas (That Could Only Have Come From Japan)

Sushi, Geisha, Schoolgirls and Anime are usually among the first things that come to mind when people mention Japan.

Business Ideas International is based here in Japan though – and we’ve got the inside scoop.

We can tell you from first-hand experience that the quirkiness of the land of the rising sun is not just limited to these usual pop-culture icons.

The fact is, even the businesses and inventions here are unusual – to say the least.

To prove it, here’s just a sampling of five twisted business ideas that could only have come from Japan.

#1 Love Doll Rental

It’s weird enough that some guys settle for a “real life” doll instead of a real girlfriend. But leave it to the Japanese – the place where these dolls-as-partners were invented – to take things a step further.

A big step – right past weird and straight into nasty. (Yet apparently quite profitable.)

You see, here in Japan, if you’re not a “one-fake-woman” kind of guy, and prefer to “work the scene” you can opt to rent a love doll by the hour.

Seriously.

Out-call available. While some of these businesses set up the equivalent of a Barbie Love Hotel where you can check into a room where your doll is waiting, others will deliver a love doll to your door and come pick her up after your date.

We guess guys use this service when they feel the need to spend some time with someone who’s really, really good at listening.

Business Ideas International prides itself on being a publication that is SFW, so we won’t go into too many more details. Needless to say, let your imagination wander – what ever pops into your head, yup, that’s what they do.

#2 Roadside Alcohol Vending Machines

One For The Road?

Nothing takes the edge of the morning drive to work like an early A.M. beer-buzz right?

If you agree, you’ll love Japan.

Here there are literally thousands of street-side alcohol vending machines.

You can just pull up to one, stick in your ID and a couple hundred yen, and out pops a can of premium beer or potent Japanese sake.

Open her up and keep on driving. Gives a new meaning to “one for the road”.

And if you’re still too lazy to get out of the car, have your pre-school aged child get your beer for you:

Now you understand why most Japanese take the train to work.

"The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!"

#3 Every Invention By Dr. Nakamatsu – Ever

If you don’t live in Japan, chances are you haven’t heard of Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu . It’s a shame too – since he is the world’s most prolific inventor EVER.

It’s true.

“Dr. NakaMats” as he calls himself has created and patented over 3,357 inventions – more than any inventor in history. (Thomas Edison comes in a far-distant 2nd place with only 1,093 patents.)

Dr. Nakamatsu’s most notable invention is one that helped change the world at the time – the floppy disk. IBM made a deal with him in the late 70′s for his floppy-disk related patents that are bound by a non-disclosure agreement, so they may take most of the credit. Although the sum paid to him has never been revealed, he has lived the life of an extremely eccentric multi-millionaire ever since.

Besides the floppy disk, Dr. Nakamatsu also holds patents for the core technology behind the CD, the DVD, the digital watch and even the taxi-cab meter.

Of course, being Japanese, the good Doctor thankfully didn’t limit himself to just patenting items for sane people.

In fact, among the items he has patented, produced and sold very profitably – mainly to fellow Japanese – are:

Pyong-Pyong Flying Shoes (In Japanese)

Love Jet 200 Anti-Impotence Perfume and

Yummy Nutri Brain Food – a snack made from dried shrimp, seaweed, cheese, yogurt, eel, eggs, beef, and chicken livers that claims to raise your intelligence.

And that’s just for starters:

By the way, if you want to come up with profitable business ideas like Dr. Nakamatsu, he recommends holding your breath underwater until 5 seconds before death – he claims that’s when inspiration strikes.

Best Meal Ever

#4 Maid Cafes

Cute Japanese girls dressed in French maid costumes take your order and serve you food.

They also occassionally get up on stage and sing and dance for you.

‘Nuff said.

We here at Business Ideas International can’t imagine anywhere in the world where this would not work as a profitable business model.

Watch this insider video and let us know if you agree:

#5 Live Seafood Restaurants

Most people associate eating raw fish -sushi – with Japan. Usually what they are referring to is actually called “sashimi”. Sashimi is the raw fish – the sushi is the rice the fish is put on.

Enough with the Japanese language lesson though.

While many English-speaking countries have caught the Sushi Restaurant buzz, food connoisseurs abroad are still missing out on the REAL seafood dining experience here in Japan.

Apparently for the Japanese, just serving your food raw was not good enough for them. “If we’re not going to cook it”, an enterprising restaurant owner apparently thought, “why should we even bother killing it?”

…and so the live seafood restaurant was born.

That’s right, in Japan, you can go to a restaurant and be served a plateful of food that’s still alive and kicking.

Here’s proof:

Note: Don’t watch this if you’re squeemish. (Maybe we should have put this before the video?)

At the very least, we hope this post has made you realize that no business idea is too strange or outlandish. If you can think it up, there’s likely a market for it – just maybe not in YOUR country.