Minnie, Mickey and massage at the Tokyo Gift Show

Lucky Tokyo-ites have spent the best part of this week marveling at some of the latest gadgets and baubles we’re likely to be giving as gifts next holiday season, thanks to the ongoing Tokyo Gift Show 2010. 

Local tech-heads Impress [Japanese] were kind enough to give us a quick roundup of the good and the great on display at the show, picking out gear as diverse as sparkly Mickey Mouse audio accessories and personal massage units (no, not that kind). Here are a few of our favorites.

Air Massager, Kenko

Putifino Air Massager

Camera specialist Kenko went out on a limb with a new, improved version of the Putifino Air Massager lineup, including a choice of colors and the option of which body part to rub and tug.

The ¥9,240 (US$100) gizmo slips onto a calf (or arm) and delivers a battery-powered massage with three modes to choose from, all of which are supposed to get the blood flowing again. Kenko says the Air Massager is ideal for worn-out office workers -- we’ll take two.

iJacket, Impress

Disney iJacket

Japanese mobile expert Rix has teamed up with Uncle Walt to bring your little tykes a range of saccharine-sweet Disney accessories they’ll either love or hate.

First up on display at the Tokyo Gift Show 2010 is an iPod nano 5G case called the iJacket that manages to entirely cover the click wheel with a mugshot of a smiling Minnie Mouse, yet which retains its functionality -- not to be sniffed at if you really dig the Mouse. Other, equally cloying characters are available.

Oh, and we’re told the secret of the ¥1,780 (US$20) iJacket not turning the iPod into a brick lies in a spot of carefully applied thermoplastic polyurethane resin elastomer, BTW.

Bluetooth earphones, Impress

Disney Bluetooth earphones

Slightly more impressive, perhaps, are some still-unnamed Rix Bluetooth earphones that provide a wireless link from your ears to your iPod.

The difference between these pre-production specials and most others already on the market, however, is that they’re tiny in-ear buds with an added touch of sparkly Mickey-shaped bling on back.

Even at a hefty ¥4,980 ($55) apiece as the estimated price -- yes, they’re really sold singly – the tiny gems on show at the Tokyo Gift Show 2010 are definitely still worth checking out when they hit the streets late this year.

After a past life as a sportswriter in the UK, Mark turned to the always-in-demand field of Japanese consumer technology and even moved to Tokyo to be closer to the action.

Read more about Mark Hiratsuka