Japanese Pen Containing Live Parasite Goes Viral, Catching the Attention of Resident Evil Fans Who Know How This Goes

If you’ve checked social media today, you may have stumbled across a see-through ballpoint pen with real parasites swimming around inside it (and maybe dismissed it as AI slop). Prompting grossed-out reactions and comparisons to Resident Evil, the pen is actually a real souvenir from Japan’s Kochi Prefecture. Earlier this year, Japan’s Asahi News fished out the origins of this strange writing implement. Even though the pen looks like something you’d find on Wesker’s desk, it’s a real product purchasable from a fishmongers’ shop in Susaki city, Kochi Prefecture. The transparent section of the pen contains living Anisakis, a type of fish-dwelling parasite, suspended in a clear liquid. The parasite can cause food poisoning if you eat raw or uncooked fish containing it. Lovely. The kind of shit a Resident Evil villain carries around and stabs themselves with before transforming into a giant meatblob with lots of eyes to shoot at. https://t.co/JzaueojAjL The company behind the pen is not Umbrella Corporation but local company Tada Suisan. According to company president Takuhiro Tada, the inspiration came from an acquaintance on social media back in 2021 who “was putting Anisakis extract