Mystery Solved!!

Ladies and gentlemen, please take a good look at this odd item. Do you recognize it? I for one had never seen it until I came to Japan.

During breaks or periods of boredom at school, I like to explore around the supply room for things that I might be able to use. While pawing around the stock, I also rearrange and organize the boxes for the other teachers. That was when I found this odd piece. I had no idea what to do with it and where to put it.  Can you figure out the riddle? I'll give you some hints.

1. It is something that is usually found among office supplies.

2. It is no longer than a person's thumb.

3. It is made of a light metal, so it is rather light.

Did you think of it yet?

Any ideas?

Give up yet?

Alright. If you insist, I'll tell you.....

Its a pencil cap!

Japanese students carry around pencil cases from the time they are in elementary school to well into college and grad school. While they can be very cheap, these are usually kept as long as possible and can be made from a hard plastic, metal, cloth, or a mixture of the three. In order to keep the inside of the pencil cases (which also hold pens, post-its, and other small items) clean, these pencil caps were invented. They also keep the sharpened pencils from being chipped or breaking at the tip. Not sure who or which country thought of them first, but my generation in the US aren't familiar with them. It honestly took me two years to figure out why my school had these odd, little items. I showed this to my kids and they were shocked to find out that we didn't use them when I was younger. Being the neat-freak that I am, I know that I'd have all of my pencils capped, but hindsight is 20-20.

Not my most exciting post, everyone, but I thought you might like to see something new, or possibly even familiar, that is used frequently in Japan.