Your own safety is worth any pain 👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan

Anyone who doesn't feel safe in their own home is well advised to take precautions and prepare a little in terms of security. Some are drawn to thicker doors and lockable windows, while others install an arsenal of motion detectors and surveillance cameras around the entire house. Well, there are a lot of security precautions available these days, but you usually have to dig deep into your own pocket to pay for them. Those who can afford it end up living like in a fortress, while everyone else is left with fear and the hope of being spared.

But there is also something for people whose purse is a little smaller, which should at least be considered as an additional deterrent. I recommend the dried fruits of the water chestnut, which not only become hard, but also extremely thorny. Water chestnuts are rare in Central Europe, but there are still plenty in Japan, as I discovered on a recent trip.

The fruits have thorn-like appendages, some of which are studded with small barbs and can be extremely sharp. In earlier times, these fruits were called “tennenbishi”, which means “natural caltrop”. And with their shape and thorns, they look like real caltrops, which are scattered on the ground to slow down and stop potential enemies.

This is exactly what they were used for in Japan a few centuries ago, when most people were still wearing rice straw sandals. The tennenbishi were able to pierce through them without any problems which surely should make for quite some event. I only did the palm test and pressed down on them lightly. But even that was quite painful so I wouldn't want to step on it barefoot either.

And that brings us to my intended use. As our water chestnuts are found in nature, even in the southern part of Europe, the procurement costs should be quite reasonable. Once you have bought a few large bags of these fruits, you can then distribute them all over your own house. It is better to be generous and not start saving. Better safe than sorry, as you want to be able to sleep in peace later.

It's best to put these little thorny things in front of every door and, above all, on every step of the staircase. And not just one of them, just put a handful everywhere. If you're not sure, just scatter a few more.

Now you can finally go to bed and breathe easy. While you sleep the sleep of the righteous, no uninvited guest will come near you and you will be as safe in your bed as in Abraham's bosom. Actually, nothing much can happen anymore, because potential attackers - I mean burglars, of course - may now be in for a painful surprise. At least if they come barefoot or on socks, as befits a professional burglar who doesn't want to make any noise.

And when you've had a good night's sleep in the morning and are ready for another productive day, there's one thing you shouldn't forget when you get up. When you walk through your house with your eyes half-closed, don't forget all the little Tennenbishi that you scattered everywhere the night before. They may have saved you from great misfortune during the night, but now when you are still drunk of victory and half asleep you should avoid stepping on one of these thorny thingies. Otherwise your roar will wake up the whole neighborhood, which you definitely want to avoid.

But perhaps a little pain of your own is the price you are willing to pay for your own safety. And even if this ritual is repeated every morning, your own personal security should be worth it. And maybe at some point you'll have so much callus under your own feet that you'll float over it like a fakir. By then at the latest, you will have outsmarted the entire world....