Bostworld

I remember reading somewhere that Japanese collectors regularly decend upon the US and buy up every piece of old vinyl they can find. I witnessed this phenomenon first hand one day when I visited my favorite comic store. I found the owner packing up his entire roomful of old five-for-a-dollar comics for delivery to a collector in Japan. Now I’m afraid to visit that country for fear of finding everything I’ve been looking for on sale for unreachably astronomical prices.

When my wife took a business trip to Japan recently, I warned her not to return without a suitcase full of that country’s national treasures. I’m happy to report that she did well. Now it’s payback time!

Okay, I admit it: you can get Pockys and Hello Kitty junk just about anywhere. And we’re afraid to try most of this stuff — not because we’re squeamish but because we’ve vegan. There’s nary a recognizable character in the ingredients list. The cats took a strong interest in my wife’s suitcase when she got home, so I’m bettting there’s fish in some of them.

I can guess what’s in them just by looking at the pictures on the packages. One appears to be slices of leek deep fried and coated with chili powder. Another looks like freeze-dried edamame. There’s a couple that I’m afraid to describe for fear of being slashdotted by coprophagia enthusiasts.

Without a doubt, my favoriteis the one with the drawing of the three snack superheroes: Pot-Leaf-Head Disco Man, Uniformed Coffee-Headed Mexican and Green-Tea-Headed Percussionist Just Getting Out Of The Shower.

Since we wouldn’t eat any of these treats ourselves, my wife took them into the office. But they sat there in the public area for weeks and nobody touched a one. I’m going to give my co-workers a shot next, but I don’t hold very high hopes. Hopefully, we’ll find somebody who’ll take an interest.