It says, “Though it’s not really a common topic of dinner conversation in the States — “Who’s been cleaning your ears at Yale, Son?” — the Japanese have a certain fondness for the act of ear cleaning.”" If you havent figured it out, its an ear pick with a mini scope so you can see all the amber goo in your ear!

The reason this is so funny is that a friend told me a story of her first trip to Japan. She brought back these really cute figurines on the end of a sticks. She thougth, wow look at all these cool characters, so she bought a bunch to bring home. Little did she know, she was buying ear picks! She showed them to me and when I told her what they were used for, she got grossed out and had that look on her face. She got over it and kept her ear picks, I just wonder if she’s using them for ear cleaning or something else. Be careful of what you buy overseas, I guess it could have been something more embarrasing.