THE BOOK:
http://fliiby.com/file/97290/76dd19oudu.html
UNCOCORO:
for Natural Unco Life (大便书) is a book about intestinal
health, written by Fujita Koichiro (藤田纮一郎), aka Dr. Parasite. He
wants us to secrete parasitic worms in our bodies:
For a long time, poo has been seen as a filthy yet
unavoidable part of everyday life. When we are young, we’re
indoctrinated that poo is brimming with germs: we must wash our
hands after using the toilet, or else we’ll get those germs in our
mouth, and other such ideas. So humanity invented the flush toilet
and sanitation workers to carry out the important mission of “poo
extermination,” and poo gradually vanished from our everyday lives.
“Clean” Japan in particular has become a fresh, tidy, advanced,
21st Century country where poo is hardly to be found. Certain parts
of the views outlined above are desireable or even necessary, but
in addition to enjoying the plentiful fruits of science and a clean
living environment, perhaps humanity ought to thing about whether
there may be something wrong with all of this progress. Uncocoro:
for Natural Unco Life will cause you to stop your blind drive to
exterminate poo and carefully consider this question.
Better than reading the paper…
other
comments:
Health books are big sellers in China these days, and a
newly-translated Japanese health book might appeal outside the
wellness marketplace with its cutesy illustrations.
Uncocoro: for Natural Unco Life (大便书) is a book about
intestinal health. It's written by Fujita Koichiro (藤田纮一郎), a
Manchukou-born health writer known as "Dr. Parasite" for his
unorthodox theory that many health problems of the modern age could
be solved if people would host parasitic worms in their bodies.
This new book focuses on educating readers about what comes out of
their bodies: the production, color, consistency, frequency, and
uses of their stools.
The illustrations are by Yorifuji Bunpei (寄藤文平), a well-known
graphic designer.
Uncocoro first came out in Chinese translation on
Taiwan, like so many cool books (Snow
Crash is the most recent example). The new
mainland edition is being promoted with endorsements from the heads
of various Taiwan health organizations.
Wu Jun-ming, head of Taiwan's Bureau of Health Promotion when
the Taiwan edition was published in 2005, describes the dismal
state of affairs that this book seeks to remedy:
For a long time, poo has been seen as a filthy yet unavoidable
part of everyday life. When we are young, we're indoctrinated that
poo is brimming with germs: we must wash our hands after using the
toilet, or else we'll get those germs in our mouth, and other such
ideas. So humanity invented the flush toilet and sanitation workers
to carry out the important mission of "poo extermination," and poo
gradually vanished from our everyday lives. "Clean" Japan in
particular has become a fresh, tidy, advanced, 21st Century country
where poo is hardly to be found. Certain parts of the views
outlined above are desireable or even necessary, but in addition to
enjoying the plentiful fruits of science and a clean living
environment, perhaps humanity ought to thing about whether there
may be something wrong with all of this progress. Uncocoro: for
Natural Unco Life will cause you to stop your blind drive to
exterminate poo and carefully consider this question.
The Chinese title of the book is straightforward: 大便书, "the book of
feces." As for what "uncocoro" means, Tsai Ying-jie, head of the
Taiwan Association for Lactic Acid Bacteria, offers two
interpretations spanning three languages:
This especially peculiar book is most close to my own mind. I
hope that all children and parents, everyone who cares about nature
and health, will give it a careful read and fully understand the
mind of the author.
The English title of this book is Uncocoro: for Natural Unco
Life. "Unco" means poo. The subtitle is clear: for a natural
poo life. But the title, "Uncocoro," requires an explanation.
"Unco" is poo, "coro" is 頃, which means "time," so together it means "poo
time," still not really clear. If it meant "coro-coro," meaning
"roll," or "poo that rolls," that would be essentially
unhealthy.
So I like to explain uncocoro as "poo heart" (便便心): "unco" is
poo, "cocoro" is heart (心). Together they'd be "unco-cocoro," but if
you remove one "co," you get "uncocoro," an innovative new
word.
Increasingly, medical evidence tells us that "aging begins in
the gut," "serious adult diseases like colon cancer, breast cancer,
heart disease, high blood preasure, and senility are closely
connected to the intestines," but people today tend to ignore
intestinal health and turn up their noses at their poo.
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Here's one of the images from the book, illustrating the various
uses of poo: coffee, medicine, power generation, soap, and money,
among other things.
Here's the book's answer to the age-old question of why
bookstores have a laxative effect: