Stuff lives in Japan that can't exist elsewhere. Like poisonous puffer fish and tentacle porn and a megacity visible from space.

Each week we publish letters sent to us regarding previous issues and highlight particularly interesting forum posts. If you'd like to comment on an article directly, send your letter to editor@escapistmag.com.

"Mika Sadahiro's Under Grand Hotel features a Japanese man who goes to prison for murder. He rooms with an African-American man named Sword who rapes him regularly. The two form an unusually deep bond with each other as they deal with the other prisoners and corrupt prison guards. It's an unusually grim tale, but rape and coercion are common in most types of yaoi."

"Until recently, Japan's music scene was viewed as quaint and delightfully out of touch with more 'mature' Western trends. The first image most people get when thinking of music in Japan is a group of Stray Cats wannabes with slick pompadours, or maybe some strange novelty act spouting broken Engrish phrases and wearing funny costumes. ... But lately their underground and indie rock scenes have exploded."

"Despite my later rejection of all things feminine, the Kitty never really let me go. I was in college when the first Hello Kitty keyboard was introduced, and despite my earnest philosophy major, anti-materialism, anti-corporate, anti-the man attitude, the sight of it cast a searing lance of pure commercial lust through my very soul.

"The power of the Kitty is undeniable. I knew I had to unlock its mystery if I was ever to truly escape."

"Most media created for children serves as propaganda as well as entertainment, and one can work backwards from a culture's children's programming to find out how they want their young ones to act. Japan and the United States each have very different expectations of young girls, and by watching animated programs aimed at children, it's possible to divine each culture's ideal girl."

"These guys wanted to learn Japanese in order to become a part of the otaku elite. They would probably leave class, put on costumes and head to an anime convention. They would walk around quoting lines from their favorite cartoons in Japanese, saying, 'I watched the original without subtitles' as they looked down their nose at those of us who watched the dubbed version. I wanted no part of this nerd caste system."