For a limited time, Burger King is selling black burgers. Yes, black. Like night. Like goth.

The bread roll contains charcoal, the cheese and sauce are made with squid ink, and in the middle is a peppery meat patty. As disgusting as it sounds (and looks), it’s actually quite tasty. For ¥480 (about R50) you can get this “pearl” version, or for a little more you can add lettuce and tomato. And in keeping with the colour theme you can wash it all down with coke.

The black pearl in all its glory

After this unique, sensory experience, Alice and I made our way to the annual Tokyo Art Book Fair. There were people from all over and surprisingly, English seemed to be the default language. It was marvelous to be in a hub of so much creative energy. Besides beautiful and crazy books, there were paper and print production exhibits, photography, and various creative knick-knacks like stamps, stickers, buttons and paper dolls on sale.