Mimikaki Yatagarasu - Japanese 3-Legged Lucky Crow Ear Cleaner

In the USA, we're taught as babies to never stick anything inside our ears. Elsewhere in this wide world, the advice is quite the opposite. Ear cleaners such as these cute little crow cleaners are sold worldwide for cleanliness - we've even seen them in a shop at Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

Mimikaki are the traditional ear cleaners of Japan, a personal healthcare tool with a scoop-like end used for getting the wax out of the ears. Some of these are quite elegant, some are very Bauhaus and others are cute - like ours - which features a yatagarasu - a lucky crow with three legs. In Japanese mythology, the appearance of a raven or crow with three legs is evidence of divine intervention into human affairs.

There is some controversy over the crow's gender, appearance and size. But there is very little dissension regarding the fact that s/he is lucky for the beholder.

The stick measures 4-3/4 inches long. The crow's beak is either gold or silver. Silver is not pictured.

As always, please use common sense when inserting anything into your body or ear. It is best to use this for display only - especially in a pencil cup!