Tokyo International News Agency

Chef Tatsuya Kawagoe, a culinary figure who once took the internet by storm, is once again capturing the public's attention. The spark for this revival was a single image posted by a social media user claiming that "a bottle of hand soap looks like Chef Kawagoe." At first glance, the posted image shows a completely ordinary bottle of hand soap. However, many users have reacted with surprise, saying things like, "If you look slightly away, Chef Kawagoe appears," or "If you blur your eyes, it looks exactly like him." This strange phenomenon—where the soap bottle returns to its normal form when stared at directly but reveals the chef's iconic smile when caught in one's peripheral vision—is spreading explosively as users call it the "Curse of Chef Kawagoe" or an "Aha! experience." Chef Kawagoe's unique character and facial expressions became a massive internet meme about 12 to 13 years ago. In response to this latest stir, g...

"Hand soap" has recently trended on X (formerly Twitter), capturing public attention from various perspectives. One major topic is an optical illusion where a specific hand soap bottle appears to look like the popular chef Tatsuya Kawagoe. It started with a post claiming the bottle's shape and shadows resemble Kawagoe's face from a certain angle. Users reacted with comments like, "If I stare at it, it's just soap, but if I look away, he suddenly appears," and "I saw him for a second, but then he disappeared once I focused." This discovery, full of the humor unique to social media, has many users enjoying the visual trick. Some even reported, "My child pointed at it and said the face was scary," leading to unexpected viral spread. Beyond the illusion, there's a focus on utility and brand value. Regarding a collaboration hand soap related to the Osaka-Kansai Expo, users have praised its quality, saying it "doesn't make dry ...