More Favorite Products from the 100 Yen Store

I've written before about the 100 Yen stores here which are the equivalent of American Dollar Trees, but with so many more creative and useless products. I could spend hours and hours in one of these stores just cruising the aisles for uniquely Japanese products. And most of the times it's not the product itself that is so entertaining, but the translated directions on the package. How a whole country can mutilate one language without someone calling attention to it is beyond me, but it makes for a comedic hightlight in an average day.

So today I had a few minutes before I had to pick Em up at preschool and I just happened to be traveling past one of these comedy clubs, uh, I mean 100 Yen stores and popped in to peruse the aisles. Here are today's highlights:

1. Snake Repellent - love the coughing, spluttering, crying snake on the front of the package. This was actually one in a series of products which also included dove repellent, snail repellent, mouse repellent, cat repellent and dog repellent. It's packaging says that the "compoments of this product has wood vinegar" so you can be "assured of its high safety". Of course, the packaging also notes that it is about 80% effective. Maybe some snakes like the smell of wood vinegar?

2. Sweat Cloth Pat, Silver Ion Applied - These are tricky to figure out, but I think they are cloths you put inside the underarms of your shirt to absorb sweat. Now what the Silver Ion Applied part is, I'm not sure. Love the directions that say "Dry up your arm pit with non wove sheet having absorbing sweat and letting air through". Also love the "cautions" that come with products. One of the cautions for the sweat cloth pat is "Sometime, the posting power is weak due to the quality of your cloth" - so if you buy cheap clothes, this product won't work for you!

3. Care Sheet - The Japanese are known to revere their elders to which my gerontologist side applauds them. And since most elderly family members are taken care of at home, there is consequently a whole host of products to help the younger generations. You know they are for the elderly because the cartoon characters on the packaging show grey haired, wrinkled people. This particular product is absorbant sheets for adult incontinency, which is not fun, but the packaging sure is! Love, love, love the picture of the old man on a potty chair with his pants down looking very, um, satisfied? And the "cautions" on the back that says "Please put a packing bag on the place which the hand of a small child or an old man does not reach." And, "When the old man has eaten some care sheets, please check whether it is made to get it blocked in a throat, and show it to a nearby doctor immediately." I am not making this up! I guess old women are smarter than the old men so they don't try to ingest the contents.