Where else but in Japan? The Central Japan Railway Company announced plans last week to introduce the world’s fastest magnetically levitated passenger train, at a cost of $44.7 billion US Dollars. Planning to top speeds of 500 KMH (310 MPH), the CJRC maglev train will become the fastest in the world, beating out the current champion which tops out at snails-pace of 430 KPH in Shanghai.

A huge past-time for Japanese school children is making Dorodangos, or, shining mud balls. By packing in wet dirt or mud, forming it into a ball and re-layering the mud as it dries, kids are making hard and perfect Dorodangos on playgrounds around Japan. Now you can make your own thanks to the English translations from Fumio Kayo, which are “previously undisclosed” steps for recreating the shining Dorodango. Perfect for parents looking for new ways of spending time with their kids, who always love a chance to play in mud.

It’s been awhile since I was into cute little rubber covers for my house keys, but damn if I’m not thinking of getting back into it. Courtesy of Goldie Garage, a great biker shop (!?) in Japan, come the skull/heart key covers for everything from your hog’s ignition key to your Honda’s gas cap. Even while looking tough, Japanese design still looks so damn cute.

Read more?: Skull key covers (In Japanese)

Anyone buying presents for kids knows it’s a giant pain in the ass, especially when what they want is an Elmo or ridiculously impossible to find Nintendo Wii. But fear not, one of the coolest presents this year is readily available and is much cooler than those electronic brain drainers anyways. What I’m talking about is the Gloomy Bear Plush Arm pillow set available over at myplasticheart. 2 GIANT plush arm pillows, shaped like everyone’s favorite homicidal (hopefully!) bear, the Gloomy Bear! The pillows slip over your arms, allowing kids (or you) to annoy the hell out of people, pets and grandparents alike. After your killing spree is over, you just slide them off and lay down for a relaxing nap.

Buy more: Gloomy Bear Plush Arm Pillow

Chalk another one up to the Japanese having the coolest nerdy gadgets on Earth at their fingertips. The “Command Sit” line of chairs are designed by US gone Japanese designer Ross McBride (Normal), who has been living in working as an independent designer in Tokyo since 1991. His command sit line of chairs come in computer beige or black and are available exclusively through Duende, the Japanese furniture and interior design products label. No price is given, which basically means half of us couldn’t afford them anyways.

Read more: Normal.as | Duende.jp

I’ve always loved wind-up toys and being the spaceage bachelor that I am (ok, not really), I’ve always wanted to start a small collection of all the strange wind-up toys I’ve come across. From politician’s heads, to food, to space aliens and cartoons, the variety is crazy. Now I’ve found the Knockman Family, from designer Maywa Denki. Each character makes their own absurd movements, making some sort of ‘musical’ noise while capturing dada-esque design perfectly. Only a matter of time before some electronica artist in Japan (or Canada) is using this group to create live noise.

Read more: Musical wind-up toys by Maywa Denki

I’m not 100% what the story behind these tunnels or the photos are (I’m trying to find out more information), but they appear to be some sort of flood control and/or irrigation and drainage tunnels. Whatever they are, these photos are extremely amazing and remind me of a mix between Blade Runner and Alien 4 movie sets. If anyone has more information on these, please e-mail us [Email address: nerds #AT# bunchofnerds.com - replace #AT# with @ ] and we’ll be happy to update the post.

[Amazing photos of Japanese flood tunnel]

[Update 1. Thanks to the many people emailing us regarding this story! More information is coming to light and I'm happy to update the post with what I've learned. The infrastructure is named the G-Cans Project and is an underground system in Tokyo intended to collect floodwater. I've also been forwarded an interesting travel diary of someone who was able to take a tour of the facility! Thanks Jackson and everyone else mailing me on this.]