Explore everyday life in Japan
When I gave my parents a set of mimi-kaki for Christmas a few years ago, they thought I had given them wasabi spoons. Based on the appearance of mimi-kaki, I can completely understand my parents’ mistake. These slightly spoon-shaped wooden ear cleaners would probably make great wasabi or caviar serving spoons, but that’s not what their purpose is. Mimi-kaki are traditional Japanese items which are used for scraping the dirt, wax, and other buildup from your ears.
When I told my parents what mimi-kiki are used for, they couldn’t believe what I was telling them. They were actually shocked, and a little disgusted, which is something that I, in turn, couldn’t believe. They’re so dangerous, my mom said without trying them. What would happen if you jabbed your ear drum? I didn’t answer her, but I did think to myself, Probably the same thing that would happen if you managed to jab your ear drum with a Q-tip. You would rupture it.
From my experience, I haven’t found mimi-kaki to be very public items. They aren't necessarily things that you will see people using as they walk down the street, although I have noticed that some people do tend to keep them in their wallets and in their purses. On numerous occasions I have seen friends, while out drinking, suddenly ask if anybody has a mimi-kaki, to which somebody will invariably say yes, and then proceed to loan their mimi-kaki to their friend. I have also worked with a school vice-principal who always carried a retractable, metal mimi-kaki in his pocket. Occasionally, while walking through the teachers’ room, he would wip out his mimi-kaki, take a swipe from his ear, wipe his mimi-kaki clean with a tissue, and then return the mimi-kaki to his pocket. And in one very extreme case, I witnessed the teacher who sat at the desk next to mine clean his ears with a large six inch pair of metal scissors for a year. Maybe I should have given him a mimi-kaki for Christmas instead of my parents. I am sure he would have gotten a lot more use out of it.
If you would like a mimi-kaki of your own, let me know in the comments. Maybe we can work something out.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting daily updates about life in Japan, please consider following me. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.