OK, this freaks me out a bit. I'd never even heard of, nor seen, this class of grinder.
I could have used one back in the day, though not for coffee. 
How the heck do you USE the thing? I still don't get it.
The silver domed shape top rotates 90* to reveal the bean hopper. When the top is rotated open the grinder mechanism, along with the bean hopper and top can be lifted off to gain access to the plastic bottom that holds the ground coffee.
When the top is rotated shut, like it is in the picture, metal tabs lock the top to the plastic bottom chamber. You can see one of the tabs on the top left of the grinder.
The grinder is a
little awkward in the hands; it's requires a bit effort to turn and has a tendency to want to torque out of the hands. It's much easier to use between the knees. It does a really nice french press or pour over grind.
And say, that Hario looks pretty good too.
I talked with Hario Japan and they referred me to their new US distributor. I got a wholesale price list from the distributor and I was contemplating a group buy, but the discounts were not deep enough to justify a buy.
