Lately I’ve been shopping for furniture and been amazed at the technological and design advances that seem specific to Japan. Single beds with enough drawers and secret compartments to store all my worldly possessions! Mattress pads and blankets that, supposedly, have some kind of heating or cooling effect depending on the season. Desks and bookshelves that fold up and slide away. I forget the wonder of the every day things around us, so I always like coming across new things like this, to remind me how clever people are.