Intriguing Inventions Found Only in Japan

3. Ice Cream with Octopus

What it is: ice cream flavored with octopus. Created: Unknown Cost on average: $2–$4* Although there are many unusual ice cream flavors available in Japan, such as purple sweet potato, miso, squid ink, seaweed, and soy sauce, octopus has to rank rather high on the oddity scale. In Japan, octopus ice cream has a creamy, fishy flavor.

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Pinterest, Oddstuffmag, and Octopus Ice Cream According to Statista, vanilla ice cream is the most popular taste in Japan, despite the peculiarity of octopus ice cream. It is definitely surprising to find vanilla in a nation that boasts some of the world's most bizarre ice cream tastes. You'll need to visit specialized stores around the nation to find octopus ice cream, as it's typically not available everywhere.

4. Super Mario Kart

What it is: a live-action, real-life dress-up Mario Karting throughout Tokyo's streets Invented in the 2010s; average cost per go-kart round: $64.* In the past, when real-life Mario Karting existed in Tokyo, fans of the video game could indulge their passion for the game to the fullest. For devoted Mario Kart fans, Street Kart—originally named MariCar—led trips across the city. These travelers drove go-karts through the streets of Tokyo, seeing well-known sites like Shibuya, Tokyo Tower, and Akihabara, while dressing up as Mario, Yoshi, and Luigi.

Pinnacle/RReal Mario Kart @thisiscitylab Regretfully, Nintendo was not happy about this and never approved it. In addition to being forced to close, the company also had to pay Nintendo over $450,000 for copyright infringement after Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the brand in 2017.