ha ha ha I've been disemvoweled. Apologies for disagreeing with you guys about how mind-bendingly awesome this is. Or was, five years ago. I actually liked these kids too. They all lived way out in the middle of nowhere, and would commute for hours on the train to get to Harajuku, then get all dressed up in the station bathroom and hang out on the bridge all day and pose for tourists both foreign and domestic. But other than that, nice normal kids.

Ths pst s stpd. Why s thr bttn t "fvrt" ths pst, bt n ppst bttn t dslk t? Ths "fshn" ddn't vr vn mnt t trnd. 'v gt sm frnds wh lk t pt brs n thr hds nd rn rnd n th wds; why dn't y cm tk pctrs f thm?

Actually, you guys might be interested in her, because she is a giant nerd like yourselves. She is extremely popular with otaku because she is an otaku herself, and really into cosplay and video games. And she's been blogging for something like 4 years.

By the way, I would guess the the reading of the author's name is Tsuneyama Takeshi. I knew a guy whose name was read that way. Although who knows really? Japanese names are a total pain in the ass.

For those perverts who are interested, the girl riding the broom in this picture is named Nakagawa Shoko, and she's totally hot. She can't type too well though.

Ooooh, Japan is so wacky! ショボイ。

I've lived in Japan for five years, and I still don't feel half as jaded and disillusioned as Coligny. Sure, there's a lot of cheesy crap here, and of course, kids raised by asshole parents tend towards assholishness as well, but isn't that the same everywhere? No country is perfect, and positive change is very slow. I think you are expecting a little too much from 10-year-olds. Maybe you had one kancho too many? Relax.

Who do you think is more edgy, Blink 182 or L'arc en Ciel? Most kids, no matter what country they're from, are into cheesy crap. Naruto is just as popular in the US as it is here. The kids are still cool.

On the other hand, foreigners' infatuation with every "Japan is wacky!" meme is annoying and sells a fascinating, complicated country short.

It's hardly huge. Japanese people are really into the fad of the week, and there's always some new goober going around. I wouldn't say it's quite to the level where everyone knows it. But it's pretty popular.

As for oshiri being somehow inappropriate for kids, in what way? Kids all have butts don't they? Kids in Japan are all into each other's butts, farting in each other's faces and giving each other fake enemas with their fingers. This one's a pretty clever meme actually, combinging two things that elementary school boys and tomboys are into; bugs and butts. Cnsdrng sm f th thngs y'r nt, Xn, t's hrd t fthm y cllng smthng ths nncs npprprt fr chldrn. The couple who made this are actually pretty old, and it's regularly broadcast on NHK, the national TV network some might call Japan's BBC. Here's a picture of the creators. According to them, the bug actually has its origins in ancient Assyria.