Ear Pick

Sometimes I get to feeling a little guilty that, as a "Canadian living and working in Japan," I don't really carry my weight when it comes to informing the outside world about all the stuff that happens here. Let's consider this post a small step towards rectifying this situation.

Did you know that Japanese people don't use Q-Tips to clean their ears? No? They use something called an ear pick. It's a slender piece of wood with a little scoop at one end (like a mini coke spoon) and a puffy, cottony ball of something puffy and cottony at the other. It should be noted that the non-puffy, coke spoon-shaped end has been linked to an increase in illegal drug use among Japanese (as evidenced by recent celebrity drug scandals).

I guess while I'm on the topic of Japanese stuff it wouldn't hurt to mention that the Japanese regularly consult goat entrails before deciding whether to take an umbrella to work or not.

Also, certain tribes will expose their newborns to the elements, with the survivors becoming eligible for kindergarten. This actually has more to do with the declining population than the government-sponsored abortion we read so much about.

Of course, being from Canada, none of this is in the least bit strange to me.