Not a Halloween costume either. I had to see it to believe it. Reuters posted video yesterday, calling it a novel way to address personal safety:
Aya Tsukioka’s Coke-machine dress allows the wearer to quickly change appearance to that of a vending machine – blending into the urban landscape.
A Japanese man says in the report that he thinks women would be better off running than pulling up a skirt to blend in as a fake soda machine.
Tsukioka also has a manhole cover bag — when a mugger approaches, you put your money in it and toss it on the ground. And for kids a backpack that transforms them into a Japanese-style fire hydrant.
This story has been going around for a while. The NYTimes — citing Japanese fondness for oddball ideas and inventions — featured her work in an urban camouflage slideshow in 2007:
Ms. Tsukioka said her idea of the vending machine disguise was inspired by a trick used by Japan’s ancient ninja, who cloaked themselves at night under black blankets.
She can’t be serious, can she? Snopes has nothing on her.