In the event you’ve checked social media at the moment, you’ll have stumbled throughout a see-through ballpoint pen with actual parasites swimming round inside it (and perhaps dismissed it as AI slop). Prompting grossed-out reactions and comparisons to Resident Evil, the pen is definitely an actual memento from Japan’s Kochi Prefecture.
Earlier this yr, Japan’s Asahi News fished out the origins of this unusual writing implement. Regardless that the pen seems like one thing you’d discover on Wesker’s desk, it’s an actual product purchasable from a fishmongers’ store in Susaki metropolis, Kochi Prefecture. The clear part of the pen accommodates residing Anisakis, a sort of fish-dwelling parasite, suspended in a transparent liquid. The parasite could cause meals poisoning when you eat uncooked or raw fish containing it. Beautiful.
The sort of shit a Resident Evil villain carries round and stabs themselves with earlier than reworking into a large meatblob with a lot of eyes to shoot at. https://t.co/JzaueojAjL
— Johnny (@JohnnyMonke) April 8, 2026
The corporate behind the pen just isn’t Umbrella Company however native firm Tada Suisan. In response to firm president Takuhiro Tada, the inspiration got here from an acquaintance on social media again in 2021 who “was placing Anisakis extracted from his personal abdomen into ballpoint pens.” In his original video post, pen creator FUNA84 quipped that, “In the event you use it when signing the consent type for Anisakis extraction surgical procedure on the hospital, you possibly can present them you’re an Anisakis grasp!”
アニサキス入りボールペンできた。
良くある「ひょっとして、この虫アニサキスかな？」って時に比較できるし、病院でアニサキス摘出手術の同意書記入時に使えばアニサキスマスターをアピールできるぞ。 pic.twitter.com/vLLh8xKXjS— FUNA⚡︎ (@FUNA84) March 6, 2021
Impressed by FUNA84’s put up, Tada tried making an Anisakis pen for enjoyable however “it acquired such a giant response, that I made a decision to promote them on the retailer.”
The Anisakis are extracted from caught fish (particularly skipjack/bonito), and so the variety of pens made by the corporate every week depends upon the catch. “Generally we make about 20 pens a day, whereas at different occasions we would not make any for per week,” Tada defined.
The pens have beforehand created waves on Japanese information and social media again in 2024 however this time, they’ve caught the eye of customers outdoors Japan — particularly gamers of a sure Capcom survival horror collection. Resident Evil followers have been quipping that it is an “Umbrella Company 5-year work anniversary current.” Even Resident Evil’s Neighborhood and Social Media Supervisor for Europe famous that the pen seems like one thing that might pop up in an ominous in-game diary entry…
Resident Evil diaries be like
April 9
I discovered this cool pen with wriggly stuff in it on the workplace, however as my supervisor walked in I began chewing nervously on it. I additionally let my canine have a nibble as a result of it tasted humorous. Hope the factor inside would not escape.April 10
It escaped. https://t.co/7CLJwSLjcf— Katastrophe (@ImKatastrophe) April 8, 2026
Posting on April 8, Tada himself reacted to the pens going viral, saying that he understood why the product was inflicting a stir however famous that the content material had been shared by unauthorized reposter accounts. He additionally talked about that there have been some threatening feedback.
The Anisakis pens have additionally stirred up ethical debates on-line, with some suggesting that they’re pointless cruelty to residing issues. It actually seems just like the sort of pen Umbrella scientists would have used when taking notes on the newest mutant experiment.
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Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance author who beforehand served as editor, contributor and translator for the sport information website Automaton West. She has additionally written about Japanese tradition and films for numerous publications.