NU 1

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine gave me an umbrella with a handle that looks like the hilt of a katana. It’s actually really well-made, while I’ve never had to use the crosspiece to protect my hand from rival swordsmen’s strikes, it does provide a nice bit of extra grip during typhoons and lesser storms with gale-force winds.

There is one problem, though. When it’s closed up, and all you can see is the handle, it looks a little too much like a samurai blade, and I feel a little self-conscious carrying it in public. So maybe it’s time I switched to something a no less unique but a whole lot more innocuous: like an umbrella shaped like a giant Welsh onion.

The design is no accident, as the product’s name literally translates as “Welsh onion umbrella.”

▼ Perhaps the finest example ever of truth in advertising

NU 2

Sold through Taiwanese crowdfunding site Limit Style, the item sells for 749 Taiwan dollars (US$24.80). It’s creators obviously put quite a lot of effort into it, with such little touches as crafting the handle to resemble a cross-section of the vegetable.

NU 3

When in use, though, the umbrella is surprisingly stylish, and with your hand covering the bottom of the handle, no one’s likely to guess its dietary motif.

NU 4

And, if you’re the type of person who can’t resist taking a couple golf or baseball practice swings whenever you’ve got an umbrella in your hand, rest assured that the Welsh onion umbrella is up to the task.

NU 5

Despite their vastly different designs, the Taiwanese creation does have something in common with my katana umbrella, in that at first glance it looks an awful lot like the real thing. So while the Welsh onion umbrella will keep me from looking dangerous when I step onto the train on a rainy days, given its pungent inspiration, its likely to make people assume I smell just as strongly.

Then again, anything that gives you a couple of extra inches of space on a packed Tokyo commuter train is something to be happy about.

NU 6

Source: IT Media
Images: Limit Style