Japanese start-up Yukai Engineering has catapulted us into a future where dinner is served with a side of fresh feline breath to cool things down.
Meet Nékojita FuFu, the adorable tiny cat robot and only feline friend that’ll cool your hot soup without demanding snacks! The cat robot gently blows on your food like a purring sous-chef, ensuring your meal is safe to eat. The Tokyo-based firm says the robot combines a fan and “special algorithm” — or a “Fu-ing System” — to blow at random strengths and intervals, like a person.
The portable cat-shaped robot made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2025.
Etymology
The distinctive name merges two separate ideas: “FuFu,” which mimics the sound made when blowing on hot food, and “Neko-jita,” translating to “cat tongue.” This term refers to individuals with a low tolerance for spicy or hot dishes, a condition that reportedly impacts almost half of the Japanese population.
“Nékojita FuFu was born out of Yukai Engineering’s 2024 internal Make-a-Thon,” the company notes, “during which a team leader reminisced about how badly he wanted help years ago with blowing on freshly cooked baby food for his son because doing so often left him feeling breathless and dizzy.”
Nékojita FuFu Blow Settings
- The Basic Main mode. Steady medium-strength/length blows with short intervals.
- Look at That! Gradually ramps up in strength as if it’s captivated by how the food looks.
- I’ve Got This! Strong head-start followed by sustained power.
- The Princess Elegant. Slow and steady increases in strength.
- Sing My Praise. Nonstop series of strong and short blows.
- Ready Yet? Stop-and-go medium blows as if it’s checking to see if it’s cool enough to eat.
- ‘Til You Drop. Long, strong and nonstop blow in a single breath.
- Not Gonna Spill. Steady medium blows with short deep inhalations in between.
The robot is set for release in Japan at some point in mid-2025, priced at ~$25.
Radical Robot Range
In 2024, the company grabbed attention (and hearts) with the Amagami Ham Ham, a soft robot toy that gently nibbles on your fingertip, because that’s what we all need right now!
“Most people like the nibbling sensation but know they need to teach their children or pets to stop it, because kids and animals will otherwise bite them with full force eventually. ‘AMAGAMI HAM HAM’ is a robot that frees humankind from the conundrum of whether ‘to pursue or not to pursue the forbidden pleasure,” according to Yukai Engineering CMO Tsubasa Tominaga.
Amagami Ham Ham, which comes in Calico Cat and Shiba Inu (a breed of hunting dog) designs, will launch as a crowd-funded project in the spring. Company representatives told TechRadar they expect to sell AMAGAMI HAM HAM for approximately $40.
