Japan seems to have a thing for making poop cuter than it actually is. This is evidenced by a Harajuku store selling poop emoji ice cream and of course, the popular Unko Museum (literally translated as “Poop Museum”) and its subsequent poop toy merchandise.

Another poop-themed item that was popular in Japan in recent years is the Unko Kanji Drill set of books. The books aim to help Japanese elementary school students learn their kanji by theming the practice drills and sample sentences around poop because, well, kids find poop funny.

Because of their concept and the cute characters that appear throughout the book, they became quite a hit in Japan, reportedly selling 630,000 copies in the first month of release. Since then, there have been unko merchandise and events that appeal to both kids and adults.

The latest Unko Drill event comes in the form of a riddle-solving event for kids and an escape room event for adults. The children’s event is called “Unko Escape Drill” and is for kids age 5 and up. The event wants to help kids foster their thinking skills by solving poop-themed riddles.

In the “Unko Escape Drill for Adults” event, adults uncover the event’s storyline while solving poop-themed puzzles. The event takes 60 minutes to complete on average, but participants are free to take as long as they need in order to solve the puzzles.

“Unko Escape Drill” is set to take place in 4 escape rooms across Japan, with 2 in Tokyo and 1 each in Nagoya and Osaka. The fee is priced at 1,650 yen for the children’s event and 1,800 yen for the adults. More details can be found on the event website.


By - Jen Laforteza.