Sun(glasses) King

I knew about otaku, the term for Japanese obsessively interested in particular cultural artifacts — particular kinds of anime, arcade video games, 1950s L.A. jazz, whatever. But I had no idea how deep and odd the obsessions ran until today.

As I was wandering through the neighborhood of used book stores called Kanda, I came across a shop whose raison d’etre is more narrowly defined than any I’ve ever seen ever. It sells nothing but John Lennon-style eyeglasses. By which I mean not just round wire-rims, but branded glasses to which Lennon actually lent his name in the 1970s.

I suppose finishing with a Yoko Ono joke would be in poor taste.

– Kurt Andersen