Japanese ear cleaners
Why on earth would somebody write about something as inconsequential as ear cleaners? You might be asking yourself. Well the answer is that for years I thought the cotton bud was a satisfactory product to clean my ears with. For years I used to give my ears I going over with a cotton bud.
It wasn't until I moved to Japan that I discovered there is a much better way to clean your ears. And that is to use a Japanese ear cleaner.
A Japanese ear cleaner is a thin piece of bamboo usually about 15cms long. It has a slightly curved spoon-shaped end that allows you to properly get into all the nooks and crannies in your ears where the wax builds up. A cotton bud is straight and is most ineffectual in getting to those around-the-corner places in your ears to get out the deeply embedded ear wax.
The first time I used a Japanese ear cleaner I was shocked at the amount of thick ear wax I was removing from my ears. I am no slob, but it is simply the case that our ears are too complexly designed (if there's a God designing stuff) to be thoroughly cleaned by a cotton bud (obviously not designed by God).
And that is not the only benefit of Japanese ear cleaners. Because they are made of bamboo they can be easily cleaned and re-used. Unlike a typical cotton bud which is only good for one cleaning and then it has to be thrown away. What a waste of natural resources. It is much more environmentally friendly to use a Japanese ear cleaner which can clean your ears for months, if not years.
Finally, the Japanese being as they are, have incorporated other features into their ear cleaners. They usually come in a set of two. Both have the curved ending necessary for pulling out ear wax, but they have different things on the other ends. One has a piece of feather which can be used for a final cleaning of your ears - to pick up all the last crumbs you might have missed, especially if you have dry powdery ear wax; and the other has a cute mimikaki doll on the end. This has no function other than being cute. Although I have seen a hippy dreadlocked character wearing one in his dreads.
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Comments
Amazing article! I definitely enjoyed reading it, and learned quite a bit...I will refer it to anybody that is curious about the subject matter.
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