mokudekiru

So here goes my Japan Blog Matsuri virginity… (where jbloggers all over make a post around a particular theme each month… July = WEIRD Japan).

The best weird thing about Kobe, Japan, is, without question, the butt statue, and its associated interaction phenomenon.

Located right beside Sannomiya station in the heart of Kobe, the butt statue is a popular meeting place for Kobe kids, or place to hang out and chat on your keitai.

Behold:

Several questions come to mind.

Why the torsos and butts?
Why in front of the Häagen-Dazs?
Why the giant Meg Ryan advertisement? (At least, it was there for the whole year I lived there. I don’t know what’s there now. Anyone care to update me?)

And, the Phenomenon:
To a Kobe native, the butt statue is *invisible*. You can always spot an outsider as someone who walks by the butt statue and notices its existence (and usually stares inquisitively for quite a while). I will never forget telling my host mom I was to meet someone at the butt statue, and she hadn’t realized it existed until I pointed it out.

The butts are invisible…