Herro Flom Japan

I found this interesting fact in my Twitter stream yesterday morning. My first reaction was, “I call bullshit.” I’ve lived here for over 19 years and not once have I ever heard of condoms being sold door-to-door. In fact, I can’t see why they would be sold that way seeing as how every convenience store I’ve ever bothered to check stocks multiple brands.

But this rumor had to have come from somewhere. At some level it has to be true.

First thing I did was ask one of my coworkers.

“This is probably a stupid question, but there’s really no such thing as  コンドームの訪問販売 in Japan, is there?”

“Actually,” she said, “I think I’ve heard of it.”

Shocked. Utterly shocked. How could I have lived here for so long and not known about it?

So I did some Googling. Turns out that 25-30 years ago, roughly half of condoms sales in Japan came from pharmacies, the other half from door-to-door sales. “Skin ladies,” as the saleswomen were called, named after the leading brand “Skinless,” sold them to young married couples by the gross. At that time condom makers weren’t allowed to advertise in print or on TV, and convenience stores weren’t as prevalent, so it starts making sense. This article has the lowdown on the history of the condom in Japan.

On a bit of a tangent note, if sex in Japan is relevant to your interests, check out Jake Adelstein’s Japan Subculture Research Center. I came across it the first time yesterday:

Japan Subculture Research Center was founded in 2007 to expose the hidden side of Japan – its underground economy, its sex trade, and all the other intriguing and seedy aspects that keep the country running.

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Posted via web from richpav's posterous

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It's the middle of the week already and the only extra masks I'm seeing are on service industry employees–convenience store cashiers and people working in restaurants mostly. I was expecting to see a repeat of what it was like in Osaka a few weeks ago where it looked like 9 out of 10 people were wearing a mask, widespread school closings, etc. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I enjoy seeing people overreact. Schnozzlefreud, or whatever it's called.

Update: Schadenfreude.

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Last night while the rest of my family was at a soccer match, lightning struck about 100 meters from our house and blew out our TV, VCR, Wii, phone, wife's PC and fried the network card in my PC. Luckily the fridge, washer and air conditioners were spared.

On the bright side, with nothing left to have fun with and no money to buy replacements, maybe our kids will start reading books.

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These helpful suggestions come from a commenter at www.inforwars.com, where I like to get my news not only completely unfiltered by the media, reality or logic, but also completely unhinged. (Note: The original author wishes to remain anonymous, because he has irrefutable proof, which he's not at liberty to reveal at the present time, that the NSA is tracking his every thought via an electronic device he inadvertently ingested after it was slipped into his Swanson's TV dinner by highly placed operatives.)

• 1. Go out & buy n-95 masks or equivalent. $ 20.00 for box of 20 at Lowe’s & Home Depot.
• 2. Buy surgical gloves.
• 3. Get anti-bacterial soaps, & bleach.
• 4. Get a preventative doctors prescription for Tamiflu or Relenza, about $ 50.00 to $ 70.00 per multiple dose pack or bottle.
• 5. Quarantine yourself & go no where if possible. No guests, in or out.
• 6. If that’s not possible, wear the mask & gloves, everytime you go out. When done, come home take off the gloves throw away in bio-hazard container. Take off mask, put on shelf for use again. Wash hands with soap & water, rinse, then rinse again in mild form of “bleachwater.” Then blow, or allow to air dry. Or use seperate 2nd towel ( white ) to dry them.
• 7. You cannot go out to eat, go to the movies, or eat any prepared foods. They will not be safe. The only safe foods will be sealed in “glass jars, metal, tin, or frozen, long before the “PANDEMIC,” hit. No fresh breads, salads, open foods, fast food restaurants, nothing like it.
• 8. Do not trust or believe the mainstream news media ! I cannot stress that enough. Get your “TRUTHFUL,” news from the internet.
• 9. Do not take any shots or vaccinations what so ever ! I do not trust them !
• 10. Watch for more deaths, clusters, & such.
• 11. Once people get scared & panic, it’s gonna be nuts. And you won’t be able to get food, medical, supplies, water, or anything.
• 12. Please run out now, & buy what you need, right away. You should be stocked up already as you’ve been told for all other types of “end of the world scenarios.”
• 13. The CDC & other sites have good information on how to protect yourself.
• 14. Do not seal up your home airtight ! You’ll run out of fresh air qucikly & die of lack of oxygen.
• 15. Of course keep your doors & windows shut.
• 16. PRAY !

I would like to add my own advice:

• Scream while flailing your arms and running around in circles.
• To assure yourself an empty seat on a crowded train, wear a sombrero, cough and sneeze loudly while muttering to yourself in Spanish.
• Stock up on water-based lubrication. The indiscriminate, all-out, end-of-the-world sex is going to awesome for those of us lucky to survive a few days longer than everyone else.

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