◎陳維真

For those who enjoy doing their reading in the loo, an English version of a Japanese horror story will soon be available overseas, with the entire novel printed on toilet paper.

喜歡在廁所閱讀的人有福了，英文版的日本鬼故事很快就會在海外上市，整本小說就印在廁所衛生紙上。

Billed as "the world’s scariest toilet paper," the roll will feature a horror story written by author Koji Suzuki, who also penned the popular horror novels "Ring" and "Spiral." The story on the roll of toilet paper is called "Drop."

這款廁紙標榜為「全世界最可怕的廁紙」，以鈴木光司寫的恐怖故事為特色，鈴木光司是知名恐怖故事「七夜怪談」、「螺旋」的作者。廁紙上的故事篇名為「Drop」。

Since hitting the market in Japan in 2009, the product has sold some 300,000 rolls domestically. The literary TP will sell for around 200 yen a roll, about 10 times the cost of a regular roll of toilet paper.

恐怖廁紙2009年在日本問世以來，已經在國內賣出30萬捲。這種有文學氣質的廁紙每捲要賣200日圓，價格是普通廁紙的10倍。

The product is made by Hayashi Paper Co., a firm in Shizuoka Prefecture with a staff of around 30. It is the brainchild of Hiroyuki Hayashi, president of Hayashi Paper, who contacted Suzuki and rolled out the idea. The popular author then agreed to write a short story for the roll. It is expected that some people will buy the product as a keepsake due to its gimmicky nature, while others will use it to take care of more pressing business.

這項產品是由「林氏製紙」公司製造，這間公司位於靜岡縣，員工人數約30人。恐怖廁紙是林氏製紙社長林浩之的心血結晶，他連絡鈴木光司，推出這個概念。這位廣受歡迎的作家隨即答應替廁紙寫短篇故事。由於產品噱頭十足，預料有人會購買這項產品當作紀念品。

新聞辭典：

brainchild：名詞，腦力勞動成果，智力結晶 。例句：The iPhone is the brainchild of Steve Jobs.（iPhone是賈伯斯的心血結晶。）

gimmicky：形容詞，耍花招的，巧妙手法的。例句：The campaign was gimmicky, but it had a serious side to it.（這次活動雖然大搞噱頭，但也有其嚴肅的一面。）

roll out：片語，正式推出或介紹新產品或新服務。例句：The firm rolled out its newest generation of supercomputers.（該家公司推出最新一代的超級電腦。）