In Japan, you’re never too young to…

think of chickens as walking yakitori.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of overhearing what Japanese people talk about at the aquarium, it may come as a surprise that when they see a chicken, the first thing they think isn’t “Ooo, colorful feathers!” but “Yum, skewered and grilled with a little yakitori sauce!”

These uniquely Japanese animal puzzles show kids what animals look like from the inside out, and teach the important life truths that cows are the repositories of all the varieties of yakiniku (Korean barbeque) goodness…

while kurobuta (an especially delicious breed of pig) is tonkatsu just begging to be fried…

tuna are merely sushi that can still swim…

and the 28 distinct squid parts will deliver additional hours of happy play if they’re offered up like the handy serving suggestion at the top left.

And if putting together animal innards isn’t exciting enough to tempt your young ‘un, there’s a puffer fish version as well, so if they fail to identify the ultra-poisonous liver, their younger brother can pretend to die a dramatic death.

And lest you think this is a quirky one-off I discovered in some joke shop, I’m here to tell you the toy department at Yodobashi Camera has a different anatomically correct selection for all the children on your Xmas list.

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And if you know someone who’s planning a Japan trip, here are all the places I take my friends when they come to town…

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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had