Yukai Engineering’s parade of weird animal robots at CES 2025 continues with Nékojita FuFu. The little cat mounts to the side of a mug or bowl, blowing air to help cool it off. The Tokyo-based firm says the robot combines a fan and “special algorithm” — or a “Fuing System — to blow at random strengths and intervals, like a person.
The unique name is a combination of two distinct concepts. “FuFu” is an onomatopoeia for the sound we make when blowing on food. “Neko-jita” means “cat tongue.” This, in turn is a reference to people who have a low tolerance for hot food — a condition that apparently affects nearly half of the Japanese population, according to a survey.
Nékojita FuFu is a product of the same internal hack-a-thon that gave the world Murami, the fuzzy little purse goblin that Yukai also unveiled at CES this week.
“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.”
Yukai describes the robot’s mods thusly:
- 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.