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Japan works hard for most of the year, but right now, it’s party time across the nation. With the holiday’s secular, stylish image, many people get together with friends for Christmas parties, not to mention end-of-the-year and beginning-of-the-year parties with both coworkers and private acquaintances.

And what more festive way to get the party going than with a party cracker? You know, one of those shiny paper cones that, when you pull its cord, emits a shower of confetti…or, in the case of one new design, a colony of cockroaches.

While it’s still in the prototype phase, novelty goods maker Link Factory says it’s moving full-steam ahead with its plans to bring the Cockroach Cracker to market. We’re not sure what more needs to be done, though. We’d say it’s plenty gross as it is, even though it seems all but certain that the cone is packed with plastic replicas, and not living, creeping, crawling insects. On the other hand, if the designers are concerned that the Cockroach Cracker is too gross, no amount of fine tinkering is going to bring it back into “cute” territory, despite the sometimes blurry line Japan draws to divide kawaii and creepy.

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Aside from being decorated with a lovely illustration of one of the creatures, Link Factory’s attention to detail means that the cord is colored just like a cockroach antenna. Give it a sturdy tug, and watch as the area directly in front of you is covered in a light shower of disgusting bugs.

In its defense, Link Factory’s stated goal actually isn’t to ruin everyone else’s good time. Rather, the company came up with the Cockroach Cracker concept for anyone who’s tired of the same old party crackers, year after year after year, and is looking to spice things up a bit.

▼ Are roaches spicy?

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It’s hard to argue with their twisted logic, as firing off one of these bad boys on Christmas Eve will definitely leave such an impression that everyone will still be talking about it at next year’s party. Whether or not you’ll actually be invited to said party, or enjoying a lonely plate of spaghetti at a table for one, is another matter.

Related: Cockroach Cracker official website
Source: Jin
Images: Link Factory