Urawaza, books, lifehacker, lisa katayama, must read, superhuman

How to Outrun Zombies, and Other Ways to Solve Problems Japanese-Style

My new book Urawaza is a collection of over 100 tips and tricks from Japan for honing your survival skills, fine-tuning your appreciation of Japanese culture, and eventually making you superhuman. The book is full of quirky Japanese solutions to common problems, along with scientific explanations of why they work. Imagine, for example, that you need to outrun a flock of zombies, like Will Smith in I Am Legend. With the help of a little old-school Japanese wisdom, you can actually run faster. Find out how!

Dilemma: You're the only human left on the planet, and you have to figure out how to outrun a flock of zombies at dusk. The zombies in your neighborhood are just slightly faster than humans on foot—you need a quick and effective method of increasing speed.

Solution: Put a rubber band around your ankle. Then stretch one end of it toward your toes and hook it over the big toe, twisting it once to make a figure eight. Repeat on your other foot.

Why this works: The rubber bands help your feet expand and contract even further than they normally do in the forefoot. This provides greater power during the push-off phase of the gait cycle, enabling you to run a little faster.

Urawaza [Amazon]

2:40 PM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By LISA KATAYAMA
13,664 views
26 comments

Comments

joemono at 02:59 PM on 04/21/08
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Sounds like those "Doctors book of home remedies" books I used to see on TV when I was a kid combined with the "Worst Case Scenario" series.
Ghede at 03:19 PM on 04/21/08
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That is pretty cool. Hmm, I should design a sock.
Smeagol92055 at 03:21 PM on 04/21/08
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Unless, of course, the last man on earth happens to be wheelchair-bound... those smarmy writers and their disdain for the disabled!
unplugandrun at 03:45 PM on 04/21/08
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neat! i want!
Dunny0 at 03:55 PM on 04/21/08
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@Smeagol92055:
Meal on wheels?

Oh god, I'm going to hell.
Garrison Dean, King... at 03:56 PM on 04/21/08
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Connectedness Index: 140

Good idea, but now I have to buy the book to find out the Japanese remedy for having your feet torn to shit after running through the apocolypse barefoot.
Silver_Back at 04:24 PM on 04/21/08
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If zombies were ever to bust into my house I'd drop gallons of oil on the steps and watch them slip all over the place. Once I know I've got them all on the ground I drop a match. Mwahaha!
RagingTowers at 04:35 PM on 04/21/08
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Shameful plug of the day
Aethyr at 04:51 PM on 04/21/08
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Connectedness Index: 357

But what if the rubber band snaps?

Then you're just running from zombies with a useless strip of rubber rubbing against your foot. How irritating.
RyanXP at 05:13 PM on 04/21/08
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Lisa,

I actually already own your book, and I thought it was fantastic! I hope its a success, and that you do more quirky stuff like this.
eyeballpupil at 05:28 PM on 04/21/08
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Congratulations on your book! It's next on my read list for the summer.
Menouthis at 05:44 PM on 04/21/08
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@Silver_Back: Hilarious and innovative! LOL! I have to see a scene like that in the next Hollywood zombie movie or I won't be able to go on living.
geekiscool at 05:48 PM on 04/21/08
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I believe this was featured on Wired recently-ish??
Eschguy at 06:04 PM on 04/21/08
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@Smeagol92055: Why would the last man be in a wheelchair? You'd think they'd fall prey to the zombies relatively quickly seeing as how they can't move fast.
joemono at 06:12 PM on 04/21/08
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@Silver_Back: Will burning a zombie kill it?
joemono at 06:14 PM on 04/21/08
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@Silver_Back: Also, your idea sounds like Home Alone meets [zombie_movie_of_choice].
Git Em SteveDave at 07:12 PM on 04/21/08
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@Smeagol92055: Is it a Jazzy or Hov-a-Round?
Git Em SteveDave at 07:13 PM on 04/21/08
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Connectedness Index: 177

@Silver_Back: Would you play humorous and hilarious sound effects while they fell?
Guizzy at 07:41 PM on 04/21/08
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Interesting; Max Brooks didn't cover this in his Zombie Survival Guide, although he DID cover pretty much everything else.
Guizzy at 07:48 PM on 04/21/08
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@joemono: The answer is yes, but it will also burn down the house, if not the whole neighborhood. You see, zombies don't immediately drop dead when they catch fire, so they have this tendency to burn a while. And other zombies don't really mind that, so they catch on fire as well. And well, you can guess what this end up leading to. Burning zombies after dispatching them with a headshot is a good idea, though.

Is there a place that sells this book in MS Reader format?
Counterglow at 08:40 PM on 04/21/08
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@Dunny0

As somebody who used to work with a group of disabled people, I can assure you that many have a transcendentally warped sense of humour. I would pass your remark on to them in a heartbeat.
kl0an at 12:18 AM on 04/22/08
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@Silver_Back: The only problem with dropping a match in oil, ummm, the match will simply go out. You need to use gas so you can light the vapors. Oil vapors don't really ignite that well.
grey_fox24 at 04:16 AM on 04/22/08
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I'll buy this book only if it can tell me how to get to stage 3 of Ninja Warrior.
Shiryu at 07:02 AM on 04/22/08
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Thats... brilliant! :o
Japan > Rest of the world.
LISA KATAYAMA at 09:01 AM on 04/22/08
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@RyanXP: Hey thanks!
Silver_Back at 04:07 PM on 04/23/08
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@Menouthis: I'd imagine if ever there was a sequel to "Shaun of the Dead" or Dawn of the Dead they should apply this logical step to survival!

@joemono: I don't know whether it would kill them. It may hinder them as any muscle on them would be unusable so you may just end up with a stiff pile of blackened moaning zombies.

@Git Em SteveDave: I'd play the Benny Hill chase theme song. ;)

@kl0an: Oh darn! I remember seeing that in Mythbusters...ok...I'd bust out my Zippo lighter! Ha!