Thursday, August 8, 2013

Eyeball Licking




Number 1 Shimbun [Japan]
August 2013


By Mark Schreiber

“The craze is sweeping through Japan at an alarming rate, causing pink eye and is a hit among 12-year-olds who are taking it as the next level after French kissing.” So wrote reporter Victory Oyeleke in the June 16 edition of the Nigerian Tribune, with an air of righteous certainty. […]


CNET
8 August 2013


by Tim Hornyak

From giant robot statues to 90-member girl bands, Japan brews up odd fads faster than you can say Hello Kitty contact lenses.

So it's hardly surprising that news of a new trend centered on Japanese kids who were licking each other's eyeballs for kicks, and spreading pink eye (aka conjunctivitis) in the process, made the rounds internationally two months ago. It was just too good to resist. […]




The Guardian [UK]
25 August 2013


The story was all over the web, but it was not especially difficult to cast doubts on the claim that there was an epidemic of tongue-induced pink eye

Chris Elliott