japanese deodorant

I have been trying to wean us off of different products that I used to bring home from Hawaii...dental floss, deodorant as well as other things because of the baggage weight limits.

We're weaned off of dental floss and I thought we might be able to stop bringing back deodorant...if only Japan's deodorant actually worked.

I found something interesting on Wikipedia...your earwax determines what kind of perspiration/body odor you have...what???

From Wikipedia:

"There are two distinct genetically determined types of earwax: the wet type, which is dominant, and the dry type, which is recessive. While Asians and Native Americans are more likely to have the dry type of cerumen (gray and flaky), African and European people are more likely to have the wet type (honey-brown to dark-brown and moist)… In Japan, wet-type earwax is more prevalent among the Ainu, in contrast to that country's Yamato majority…

A specific gene has been identified that determines whether people have wet or dry earwax. The difference in cerumen type has been tracked to a single base change (a single nucleotide polymorphism) in a gene known as "ATP-binding cassette C11 gene". Dry-type individuals are homozygous for adenine whereas wet-type requires at least one guanine. Wet-type earwax is associated with armpit odor, which is increased by sweat production. The researchers conjecture that the reduction in sweat or body odor was beneficial to the ancestors of East Asians and Native Americans who are thought to have lived in cold climates."

Krazy but interesting yeah?!

Anyway...the deodorant that they have here:
*stick type is super teeny...20 grams vs the 50 something grams the US has...higher price too!
*more fragrance than to actually stop perspiration
*doesn't last very long throughout the day

Since this summer is gonna be a scorcher here in Japan, am gonna stock up on deodorant the next time I go back to Hawaii.