As expected, there are not many places in the world that take more of a jaw-dropping turn than Japan when it comes to disturbing toys. That being said, here are my top ten most disturbing Japanese toys that I would seriously hesitate giving to any child.

10. Poop and Pee Plushies

Japan has a strange relationship with poop. I can’t tell you how many potty-training and poop related children’s toys I’ve come across, but it’s more than I could have ever imagined. Sure, poop jokes are always funny, but somehow the idea of teaching your child to snuggle with their own excrement via plushies just doesn’t sound healthy to me. Please, prove me wrong.

9. H-Bouya USB Toy

The H-Bouya is a plug in USB toy in the form of a small boy. I’m not sure what twisted tween-age mind came up with this one, but the H-Bouya’s main trick is giggling and blushing every time you press the letter “h” on your keyboard. In Japanese “h” stands for “etchi,” meaning sex, erotic, or pervert (oh my god, she said “h” hehehehe). The H-bouya also reacts to other love related words like suki (like/love), deeto (date), and much more.

I guess it’s kinda funny, but I’m not sure if the H-bouya is supposed to be amusing for kids or adults. It seems like it would get old faster than the new Ferby which lasted only about 30 seconds after I turned it on.

8. Virus Plush

In the past few years, plushies in the shape of diseases have become pretty common in the States, but that’s not the only place. This Japanese plush for babies is modeled after a virus for maximum fun time! Above left is the Japanese virus plush. Below, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And above right, a small child that appears to be contracting AIDS.

Am I the only one that sees the resemblance? No? Well, this is sure to be a happy ending. I can’t see how anything could go wrong here.

7. Face Bank

My parents have always taught me the importance of saving money, but honestly, I’ve never really been any good at it. But you know, It’s really a shame that a bank like this one didn’t exist when I was a kid because I’m sure I would have saved money in fear that Satan would devour my soul if I didn’t offer it my lunch money as tribute.

As shown, the Face Bank comes in solid colors and is rather plain – that is, expect for the soulless, haunting eyes and subhuman face protruding from the front of it. The Face Bank will stare you down with its lifeless, chimpanzee face until you appease it with your pocket change. It will then proceed to devour said change with its robotic jaws and then let out a satisfied belch.

There is something truly terrifying about a robotic creature mimicking human-like functions in such a lifeless manner. Seriously, this thing is pure nightmare fuel.

6.Road Kill Cat

“Mommy? What happened to Mittens?” Don’t even bother conjuring up some BS story about Mittens running  away or going off to play with the neighbors. Just throw your kid this thing and they’ll eventually get the idea. Or, at least it will give them something to do with all those extra Hot Wheels cars laying around the house. I’m sure they’ll be just as happy as the kid on the package- all smiles! :D

5. Rubber Lips

Do you remember those old “candy” lips that looked really tasty but actually tasted like freshly waxed baboon butt (and were about the same color)? That’s what these Japanese toy rubber lips reminded me of when I first saw them, only somehow much more disturbing (not at all in a suggestive way). Japanese rubber lips are mobile, so you can preform a range of activities while wearing them including talking, eating hoagies, or even scaring the Milk of Magnesia out of your aged neighbors! Honestly, I’m not sure what the purpose of these things is, but I really don’t want to know.

4. Russian Roulette Toy Gun

“Hey guys! I’ve got a great idea!” Let’s play with guns!” That’s basically what this Japanese Russian Roulette game says to me. The game includes a toy gun similar to a Nerf gun that “fires” randomly. Young children put the toy gun to their heads and pull the trigger to test their luck. Somehow making the gun shoot out hippopotamus legs instead of bullets is supposed to make this so much more acceptable.

Sounds like a roaring good time to me. In expert mode kids use a real gun!

3. Japanese Pregnant Doll

All this time I’ve been deluded into thinking Japan has been coming out with a steadily more shocking line of toys every year, but I was wrong. This 19th century doll showing the stages of pregnancy is on my list of the top 3 most disturbing toys ever. It’s only saving grace is the fact that this doll was originally made as a medical model. However, evidence suggests that it was later used for entertaining children.

This, however, raises more disturbing questions. Call me culturally ignorant, but who decided a pregnancy doll was a great thing to use as a child’s play thing? My money is on a doctor giving whatever he had on hand that wasn’t pointy to his children in order to make them shut up, and it happened to be this.

2. You Can Shave the Baby!

This toy has become a sort of myth on the internet and among Japanese toy enthusiasts. However, after doing some research, I found that this toy was originally designed by the Polish artist Zbigniew Libera. Even though this discovery was slightly disappointing, I still think “You Can Shave the Baby” qualifies as one of the disturbing toys ever in Japan.

As you can see, this baby doll comes with hair on all sorts of exciting regions of the body. And you know what the best part is? You can shave it! Unfortunately, it doesn’t grown back, but nothing beats the joy one gets from a good, clean shave. Am I right?

In all seriousness though, I wouldn’t touch this thing with a ten foot pole. Just look at its death glare (it must be unhappy from all that hair). And from the looks of things on the internet, I would say people tend to agree on this subject.

Warning: This video is PG-13

I sincerely hope I’m not the only one here who thinks there is something exceedingly unnerving about having your child shave an infant’s pelvic hair. This is psychopath-making material, right here.

1. Baby in the Microwave Toy

It both encourages me and horrifies me to know that, no matter how desensitized I think I am to ludicrous Japanese inventions, there is always something new to prove me wrong. The baby in the microwave toy is, sadly, exactly what it sounds like: the model of a small child who has been blown up in a microwave. I’m not sure if things could get any more deranged even if I tried.

Honestly, I would have loved to be there to see the sales pitch for this one. The man who pitched this must have been a genius (or a great comedian) to convince someone to market this “gem” of a toy.

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This is just a small sampling of the number of disturbing toys in the world. Unfortunately, there are many, many more both inside and outside of Japan. What is the creepiest toy you’ve ever seen or heard of? Let us know! Share your story with us in the comments section below!

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Bonus Wallpapers!

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To those people I say “bah” and “pshhh, you don’t know what you’re missing out on,” because there’s a whole category of places you’d never think of visiting in Japan that aren’t on the radars of pretty much any Japan travel resources. Some of these areas are what’s known as Bkyuu (B級 = B-rank) spots. As in, where the “Akyuu” spots are the Golden Pavilions and the Todaijis and the Tokyo Towers of the world, the “Bkyuu” spots are the less touristy, weirder, and usually harder to get to. Luckily for you, these are the places I tend to spend most of my time in.

Some of these places we’ve written about – others we’ll be writing and doing video about in the future. All of them are Bkyuu and off the beaten track. The kinds of places people aren’t telling you about.

Okunoshima aka Rabbit Island

In WWII, Okunoshima had a big ol’ poison gas factory. Now, it’s an island covered in rabbits (and possibly some buried containers of poison gas, but that’s just in case the rabbits grow intelligent, I’m sure). One theory is that after the war they were going to kill all the rabbits to help hide the evidence, but local youngsters let them all free before anyone could do that. Today, with a lack of predators and 50+ years of breeding time, there’s a rabbit infestation. Thankfully, tourists seem to like rabbits. It’s also home to a government-run hotel (very nice, I’ve been there), a museum, and some haikyo (ruins) if the rabbits aren’t doing it for you. If you like to feed rabbits, hang out on islands, and walk/bike around a lot, Okunoshima’s your very own rabbit paradise. Be warned, it’s gotten pretty popular in the years since I’ve been there, so grab a reservation to the hotel a few weeks in advance.

Location: Map

Makomanai Takino (aka Easter Island, Japan)

You could go to see the the Moai statues over on Easter Island, or, you could just head on up to the Makomonai Takino Cemetary in Hokkaido, Japan for a somewhat less original experience. It’s a little ways outside of Sapporo, and hard to get to in the winter (all that snow!), but seems like a nice and relaxing (and bizarre) day trip to me. I’m hoping to make it here the next time I’m in Hokkaido when it’s not during blizzard season. If the Moai statues aren’t enough for you, there’s also a Stonehenge replication and daibutsu (giant Buddha) there as well and 1,800,473㎡ worth of land to explore. It’s also a cemetery too.

Location: Map

Meguro Parasite Museum

A half-day is all you need to visit the Meguro Parasite Museum in the Meguro district of Tokyo. Why would you want to visit a parasite museum, let alone this one? Well, first of all, this is the only parasite museum in the world. So, if you’re going to visit one, it’s going to be this one. Second, you’re never going to be able to see things like this in person unless you’re the proud host of said parasites. Come here to enjoy giant tape worms, parasitic turtle heads, educational maps, and more! We spent maybe an hour or so here, but it was very educational and interesting. So, if you’re into science, or if you’re just into weird things, head on over to the Meguro Parasite Museum. Give them a donation, though, they need your yens to do all that parasite-related research upstairs!

Location: Map

Jesus Christ’s Gravesite

We wrote about how Jesus trekked over to Japan (while letting his brother die on the cross) a couple thousands years ago, but it’s worth bringing up again for this Bkyuu list. Why? Well, I think it’s an interesting story. That being said, I wouldn’t make a pilgrimage out here (even for the Christ Matsuri), but if you are in Aomori already, perhaps traversing the distance between Hokkaido and Central Japan, it might be worth the trip. You may even meet one of Jesus’ Japanese ancestors, if you’re lucky!

Location: Map

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

I’m not super into Osaka, but there were times in my (younger) life where I was really into instant ramen. Of course, the king of instant ramen is Cup Noodle, and yes, there’s a Cup Noodle Museum. Not only can you learn about the history of Cup Noodle (pretty interesting, actually!) but you can also make your own Cup Noodle, which I think is the best part. I’m not going to be eating mine… that is until some future night where I’m really hungry and really desperate.

Oh, and if you haven’t eaten Japanese Cup Noodle, you’re in for a treat. It’s quite different from the non-Japanese version and actually tastes good, I think. You’d be surprised at the difference.

Location: Map

Yoro Park: The Site Of Reversible Destiny

Also known as the “Site of Reversible Destiny” (that should give you an idea), this park was made by Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins, and is one of the most bizarre places I’ve ever been. It’s designed to be that way, though, so you can go there expecting upside down buildings, giant dangerous tree holes, and places scary for people who don’t like heights.

I also made a video about it a while back, when I visited with my friend Hiroyuki.

This was one of the most interesting places I’ve been to, I think. Every turn was a mini-adventure with something to explore and discover.

Location: Map

Tashirojima, aka Cat Island

A “bizarre places Japan” list wouldn’t be complete without Cat Island! I visited here a couple months before the Tohoku Earthquake. Then, we visited it again in February of this year (“Return To Cat Island” anyone?). If you’re into cats, this is your cat paradise. The island has had it rough with an aging population and damage from the Tohoku Earthquake, but you can get there again now and there are plenty of cats ready to try and murder you for sustenance the moment you turn around…

Here’s Part 1 of the Cat Island Trilogy…

Bonus: Did you know a group of cats is called a Clowder? There are many clowders here.

Location: Map

Robot Restaurant

While some of these places have been around a while, this one is fairly new. The Robot Restaurant in Tokyo is… uh… I don’t know how to describe it, to be honest. You pay your 4000ish yen, you go inside, you sit, and you eat your terrible bento (you’re not here for the food, that’s for sure). Then, the show begins. Scantily clad ladies do battle in giant robot / panda / Captain America suits. Then, they ride out on giant robot ladies. Then there are dinosaurs. Then, people fly around slowly and you give them high fives. Not sure how else to describe it, but it’s a weird experience leaving me scratching my head while smiling and laughing at the same time.

Location: Map

Jigokudani (aka Monkey Park)

I’ve been here a couple times now, and it’s verging on not being a Bkyuu spot anymore, but I’m going to include it anyways. You can do a day trip from Tokyo to here, but I recommend staying the night somewhere nearby so you can arrive early. There are other things to do here, but of course the main attraction is the macaques. They spend time warming themselves in the hot springs (uh oh, they’re leaaarrnninng). They’re also very tame, and will often let you get within inches of their face to take pictures. Don’t blame me if they tear off your face with their monkey strength. They’re still wild after all.

Mostly, though, I’d recommend you get there early. People will snag the best spots and never, ever leave (I’m looking at you Australian tourists). I’m thinking that they’re peeing into catheter or wearing Depends™. It’s the only way.

Location: Map

World’s Shortest Escalator

We found this gem thanks to hippikiller (his video below)… the world’s shortest escalator! This is like… ironic tourism at its best. You can go down this escalator hundreds of times if you want, and nobody will care, you included! Afterwards, I recommend going up one of the longer escalators so you can really feel the difference. Also, go to the game center in the building because you’ll probably be really bored by this point.

Still, it’s an easy day-trip out of Tokyo, so if you need to mark another check off your Guinness Book Of World Records checklist you can do it quite easily (and quickly).

Location: Map

More Bizarre Japanese Tourist Spots

So, I know there’s a lot more out there worth visiting, but these were my ten. I was thinking about throwing in Naoshima for the James Bond Museum or perhaps Zauo, the restaurant where you can catch your own fish (indoors!). What (odd/Bkyuu) places do you recommend in Japan? I know there’s a million more Bkyuu places in Japan worth (or not worth) visiting, so what are your tops?

Bonus Wallpapers!

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Alcatraz E.R.

Alcatraz is arguably the most famous themed Japanese restaurant and it started the whole wacky themed restaurant trend about a decade or so ago. The setting is a medical prison and the patrons are the patients. The waitresses are dressed like nurses and upon entry they handcuff you, (pretend to) inject a giant needle into your butt, and lock you into your dining cell. Five star dining right here, folks.

While imprisoned, you can order dishes like the Dead Chicken (two chicken feet clasped together), Penis Sausage (sausage that looks like a most appetizing severed penis) and Intestine (sausage again, but I don’t know why they don’t just use real intestine from an animal). To get the attention of your waiter you have to bang on the cell bars just like in a real prison.

Most of the drinks are served in test tubes and beakers and there are plenty of actors wandering around the place pretending to be escaped patients and spooking you at every given opportunity. The nurses are also pretty scantily dressed, so there’s much eye candy here for the fellas.

Cannibalistic Sushi

This restaurant takes the tradition of eating sushi off a female body (nyotaimori) to a whole new level. This time you’re actually eating what’s inside the female’s body. Of course the body is fake, and made entirely of edibles, but still, this is kinda weird and creepy.

Dressed as a nurse (of course), the waitress wheels the body in on a gurney. She then uses a scalpel to cut a section of flesh out of the woman’s abdomen to expose her crimson innards, blood running everywhere. Her guts, of course, are the sushi. Patrons then go on to chop up the body themselves, searching for their favorite sushi pieces. It’s fun for the whole family.

You can chop it up however you want and eat what you find inside. The dough body will actually bleed sauce as you cut it open and all the intestines and organs inside seem to be completely editable. Yum yum.

Ninja Akasaka

This restaurant is all about ninjas and is located in Tokyo’s Akasake-Mitsuke business district. The entrance leads to a maze of cave-like corridors where staff escort you through a labyrinth of trap doors and trick drawbridges before seating you at your private table. Ninja magicians come to perform their ninja magic while you dine. Others sneak up with menus and food, and there’s plenty of neat things to look at while dining.

The maze-like interior is meant to make the place seem like an old Japanese castle and all of the meals are themed after ninjas and feudal age Japan. This, along with Alcatraz, is another one of the most popular and well known themed restaurants in Japan.

Ye olde Tofugu team even traveled to this restaurant way back in the day. To read all about it and see a video documenting the trip, you can check out this ancient post from Erin here.

Alice of Magic World

If you didn’t already guess from the name, Alice of Magic World is an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant located in Tokyo, Japan. Besides having a really awkward name, the restaurant boasts tons of neat things modeled after both the original novel and the Disney animated take on Alice. The restaurant is designed to evoke a wonderful feeling of fantasy and surrealism while dining.

The restaurant includes playing card dining tables, giant tea cup booths, a magic forest, and heart-shaped chandeliers. One of the creators of the restaurant said that they “wanted to give guests excitement and surprise, like an unreal world with various wonderlands. But we didn’t want it to be gimmicky.” Well gimmicky or not, the place does look pretty impressive. Alice in Wonderland fans surely won’t be disappointed.

The restaurant offers a wide variety of meals including Cheshire Cat Tail Pizza and Burgundy-style Braised Beef Cheek in Queen of Hearts Red Wine Sauce. Mmm, beef cheek. I’ve never really been into Alice stuff, but the inside of this restaurant looks really cool.

Biohazard Cafe and Grill

Video game publisher Capcom installed this limited time only Resident Evil restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo last July. The eatery is known as Biohazard Cafe and Grill and features Resident Evil-themed food, props, and an unlimited supply of dancing girls in booty shorts.

Pew pew pew.

The centerpiece of the Biohazard Cafe and Grill is definitely the life-size Tyrant statue pictured above. Using 3D projection mapping technology, the Tyrant statue comes to life and the scantily clad staff then shoots Tyrant down to simulate a real life Resident Evil experience. And since this restaurant is limited time only, it should be closing its doors come July 2013. So if you’re hoping to experience this one, you’d better make it sooner rather than later.

So What’s the Appeal?

Some of these restaurants may seem pretty gimmicky, but they consistently do very well. Most of the theme restaurants I’m used to seeing in America are like, attached to an amusement park or theme park, or attached to something else in some way. Many of these theme restaurants in Japan are just standing on their own and are doing just fine, consistently drawing large crowds.

I imagine the main draw of these places is just what you’d expect – an escape from the humdrum reality of everyday life. Sure, if you’re a tourist, these are great places to visit, but tourists aren’t the only people coming to these places. I’m sure Japanese people like to mix it up every once in a while and dine at one of these wacky locations. I know I would.

Anyway, speaking of tourists – Tofugu is heading back to Japan soon, and they just might be visiting some of these restaurants. Since they might not be able to hit all of them, it’s up to you guys to let us know which ones you’d most like to see covered.

Would you prefer the creepy atmosphere of Alcatraz E.R. and the Cannibalistic Sushi? Or perhaps you’d rather see the atmosphere and whimsy of Alice? Or maybe you just wanna see girls dance around in hot pants. Either way, let us know!

So tell me, which one of these themed restaurants would you like to visit most? Ever been to any of them or know any others that deserve some recognition? Let us know in the comments!

Header image by Layla Lane

But that’s not telling the whole story about Tokyo. Tokyo is too enormous to have just one identity. The many different districts of Tokyo have wildly different personalities.

There’s one place in particular, in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, that has a really distinctive feel and personality. It’s a place that’s sometimes called 思い出横丁, or “Memory Lane”; but I prefer to use its other name: 小便横丁, or “Piss Alley.”

Piss Alley is about as far away as you can get from the Tokyo that most foreigners get to see. If you’re an otaku, you might go to Akihabara, a bright, colorful district of Tokyo with lots of open spaces. Piss Alley is virtually the opposite: it’s a cramped, dingy place that’s more of a local hotspot than a tourist destination.

Don’t let the name scare you off. Piss Alley is named for its early years, when it was a shady destination for criminals to get their drink on. The place wasn’t very built up back in those days, so instead of using a toilet, people just relieved themselves wherever they could.

Nowadays, you won’t find people peeing on the streets (well, not generally), but Piss Alley has retained a lot of its local charm. It’s a series of small shops stuffed as tightly as possible into narrow alleys usually only wide enough for one person to walk through. Some people have said that Piss Alley reminds them of a scene straight out of Blade Runner.

The Food of Piss Alley

There’s a lot of drinking spots in Piss Alley, the kind where you pull up a stool, have a beer and some excellent yakitori. The restaurants are really cramped (I’m not entirely sure how people move around), but nothing too out of the ordinary.

Within Piss Alley, there’s also some pretty strange food too. The most notorious restaurant in Piss Alley is Asadachi, a restaurant with a name that roughly translates to “morning wood” (ask your parents, kids).

The food served at Asadachi isn’t the kind that you enjoy with your coworkers and wash down with a super dry beer. Instead, it’s more like folk medicine; stuff that’s supposed to improve your virility and cure various ailments.

So what kind of food do they serve at Asadachi to give you some asadachi? Here’s a small sampling:

• Frog sashimi
• Pig testicles
• Soft-shelled turtle
• Still-beating frog’s heart
• Grilled salamander
• Snake liquor

Some of the food is straight up killed right in front of you to assure freshness (how else are you supposed to get a beating frog heart?). The menu changes a bit depending on what’s fresh, but you can expect that no matter what you get, you’ll probably consider going vegetarian.

Read More: Relive a night of post-war Japan at these Shinjuku bars

Header image by maaco

Food items that appear unusual at first glance may be anything but. There may be very similar, if not identical dishes bar in name, in vastly different cuisines (kimchi and sauerkraut, anyone?).

Also, thanks to globalization, weird, exotic foods don’t always stay so. Sashimi, for example, has a huge following outside of Japan – just the fact that the word “sashimi” is in the Oxford English Dictionary, I think, is telling. Even natto and fugu are now quite well-known outside of Japan, albeit infamously so.

So with that in mind, is there anything “weird” left, really? In other words, what food items are not easily available or accepted, or still relatively unknown outside of Japan?

When Only the Freshest Will Do

If seafood tickles your tastebuds, and you like having your meal watch you as you eat it, then ikizukuri (活き造り) and odorigui (踊り食い) may be right up your alley.

Ikizukuri is basically live sashimi. Literally, it means “live (food) preparation,” and shows off the freshness of the seafood as well as the chef’s skill in preparing it. The chef selects, say, a fish, and stuns it with a quick blow to the head. The fish is quickly and deftly filleted, and the flesh sliced into sashimi, which is then presented together with the still-living fish (or what remains of it).

Now if you prefer your food to go down fighting, odorigui may be the way to go. Odorigui, or “dancing eating,” is sometimes used interchangeably with ikizukuri. Strictly speaking, however, it refers to food that visibly “dance” while alive – live oysters and sea urchins, for instance, don’t count. A textbook example would be gulping down live, whole shirouo (白魚) or ice gobies, perhaps with vinegared soy sauce for flavor.

Beware, though. As the food’s uncooked there’s always the risk of infection by parasites, and cases of painful, oral insemination by raw squid are not unheard of.

Spit or Swallow?

While we’re on the subject of oral insemination: what do you do if you end up with a mouthful of marine spermatozoa?

Well, if it happens to be shirako (白子), the answer is: you swallow.

Shirako, literally “white children,” is milt: the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks and other seafood. The shirako of cod and anglerfish are considered delicacies, and if you can find it, you could prepare it yourself at home – no special knife skills required here.

Now That’s Just Too Weird to Be True

Dojo tofu (ドジョウ豆腐) is a dish where live dojo loaches are placed into a pot of water with a block of tofu. The pot is then placed over a stove, and the dojo burrow into the still-cold tofu to escape the increasing heat. This is futile, of course, as the tofu will eventually cook together with the dojo still inside.

But here’s the most unusual thing about it: the art of preparing dojo tofu has been lost, or it was never a real dish to begin with. All evidence for its existence is purely anecdotal: “my mom used to make this” forum comments, and a mention in a rakugo (落語), a traditional comic story.

This hasn’t discouraged the more adventurous Japanese food bloggers, though – but I have yet to see any of them post a photo of a successful dojo tofu. Instead of burrowing into the tofu, the dojo instead prefer to madly jump about before succumbing to the heat.

Bear in mind, however, that these dishes aren’t eaten every day, by every Japanese – in much the same way that Aussies don’t chow down on kangaroo burgers daily, and Kiwis don’t scoff huhu grubs like they’re going out of fashion.

Anyway, if you’ve experienced any of the food items I’ve mentioned, or if you’ve come across other “weird” Japanese foods, let us know about it in the comments!

Header image by Pedro Moura Pinheiro

Is this topic interesting to me? Will this be interesting to other people? Is the post too short? Too long? Is the title right? Etc., etc..

Most of these considerations are things that all writers try to keep in mind. But because I write about Japan, there are a special set of considerations that I have to keep in mind too.

One of the most important considerations is – believe it or not – am I making Japan out to be too weird?

The Appeal Of The Weird

When given a choice between run-of-the-mill and wacky, most people opt for the latter. Who could blame them? Would you rather read about something typical and mundane, or something really out there and unusual?

And it just so happens that for whatever reason, one of Japan’s biggest exports seems to be weird. Nowadays, it seems almost impossible to escape reading about Japan’s oddities. Hell, there are even whole websites dedicated exclusively to Japan’s wacky exports.

This can be a good thing, because it catches people’s attention easily and might even get them interested in Japan. But there’s also point when the “weird Japan” angle becomes tired and maybe even harmful.

The Risks Of Pigeonholing

When the only exposure to Japanese culture you get is the weird, then it tends to dull everything else out a little bit. It seems to me that eventually, Japan just becomes this kooky place without any real, substantive value, and it becomes hard to take it very seriously at all.

Focusing exclusively on the wacky stuff is, in my opinion, kind of a disservice to everybody involved. The author has a pretty shallow topic to work with, and the audience doesn’t have a whole lot of substance to take in. It seems like a lose-lose situation.

More Than Just Weird

Japan, like any culture, is a complex beast. Sure, there weird parts about Japanese culture, no doubt about it; but there’s still so much more.

Japanese culture has many aspects to it and is virtually impossible to wholly understand. Even if you study Japanese culture for all of your life, there will always be parts of the culture you’ll never understand or even be exposed to. It wouldn’t be for lack of trying, it’s just the depth and breadth of culture is far bigger than we tend to believe.

For instance, I’ve lived in the same area for nearly all my life, but I’m still learning new things about it all the time. Just when I think I’ve got my hometown figured out, I discover new neighborhoods with their own character and culture.

Japan: Not Nearly The Weirdest Place On Earth

That’s not to say that Japan doesn’t have its share of wacky stuff coming out of it. Japan definitely has more than its fair share of the strange. Japan isn’t alone though, and I think that we sometimes forget to turn the mirror on ourselves and look at how bizarre our own cultures can be.

I mean, check out what happens where I’m from: a guy playing bagpipes on his unicycle while wearing a Santa suit.

Believe it or not, this kind of things doesn’t phase me a whole lot anymore, but some outsiders find it really entertaining. People have even fetishized my hometown’s culture to a point where there’s even a TV show about it (Portlandia).

Is Weird Bad?

This isn’t all to say that you shouldn’t talk about “weird Japan” at all. While I think that there are dangers to overdoing it, there are definite advantages to talking about all of the goofy, zany, and just plain inexplicable things that come out of Japan.

Contextualizing these weird outliers gives people a good jumping off point to dive further into Japanese culture, to explore other parts of history, language, sociology, etc..

People look at and appreciate Japan in different ways, through different lenses; and if the weird helps them bring a culture that interests them into focus, then who am I to write them off?