A transparent ballpoint pen containing living parasites swimming in clear liquid has exploded across social media, prompting horror and dark humor from gamers who immediately drew comparisons to Resident Evil's nightmare fuel aesthetic.
The pens are real. They are being sold at a fishmongers' shop in Susaki city, located in Japan's Kochi Prefecture. The writing instruments contain actual Anisakis, a parasite that lives in fish and can cause food poisoning if consumed in raw or undercooked seafood.
The product comes from Tada Suisan, a local company run by president Takuhiro Tada. The origin story traces back to 2021, when a social media user named FUNA84 posted a video showing Anisakis parasites extracted from his own stomach sealed inside ballpoint pens. He joked that using the pen to sign consent forms for Anisakis removal surgery would demonstrate true mastery of the parasite.
Tada saw the post and decided to make his own version as a novelty item. The reception was strong enough to justify commercial production. Now the company harvests Anisakis from caught skipjack fish and seals the parasites into pens for sale. Production is irregular: some days the company manufactures about 20 pens, while other weeks yield none at all, depending entirely on the fishing haul.
The pens had previously drawn attention on Japanese news outlets and social media in 2024, but they only went truly viral internationally this April when gaming communities took notice. Resident Evil fans flooded social platforms with jokes about the pen being an
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