sweat bby sweat: an ode to ions, the female gaze, and c u l8rs

SWEAT B B Y, SWEAT

an ode to ions, the female gaze, & c u l8rs

1

02. introduction 03. what is pocari sweat?

04. ingredients 05. nutrition facts 06. other p forms 07. drip bby, drip 09. drown urself in ions 11. will it calf?

12. hypnotherapy

w w h h

so before we get buckle up and dive in - first things first. i believe reparations are in order. i need to formally apologize to kabir. (i mean of course i already have privately - through multiple ig messages and emojis of the girl kneeling and profusely apologizing, but i want there to be physical proof.) so yoooo. kabir. i’m sorry. i sincerely apologize for sitting on these pictures (like how many months has it been now? - omg. has it been 3+ months already?!). so thankful u haven’t killed me yet - i guess distance probably helps with that. umm... so it was never my intention to make a pocari sweat-centered zine. and honestly i’m a little confused as to how we arrived here as well. i’d been sitting on these pics that i took of kabir back in july - to commemorate his time spent in japan (also kabir. omg thank u thank u thank u for asking me to shoot u and trusting me to do this and for dragging an boatload of empty pocari bottles to my house in a taxi. loooool.) - and realized that it had been a while since i’d made anything fun in indesign and figured ehh, why not! i initially started out laying out a couple images just so i could post a fun one-page “aesthetic” spread on ig. and wow. somehow we’ve found ourselves here. a full-blown zine - 12 pages + front and back cover. umm whut?! also ummm why?!? but like really. why make a zine about pocari? am i really thaaat into pocari? (umm admission: honestly i hardly ever drink pocari sweat anymore unless its summer and i’m dying... or i’m sick and i’m dying - umm... does this make me a poser? unclear.) am i trynna get #sponsored? ...hmmmm. i’m not opposed @otsukapharmaceuticals *wink wink nudge nudge*. (ayeee. that adult lyfe ain’t easy. so atm i’m v willing and able to sell out.) and like am i obsessed with kabir? i mean like 1000% yes. but like also loooool no. for me, obsession wouldn’t be enough. aka ur be mad gurl lazy sometimes. OR is this just a weird self-indulgent joke fueled by a moment of sleepless insanity that was taken a little too far? ahaha i mean perhaps? -- and err.. by that, i mostly mean yes. i enjoy a good drawn out joke.

whut?? why?? hello! hi.

so. i guess if i were to get deep and analytical and ponder the ways in which pocari has affected my life, i suppose i could come up with a list of examples of how pocari has impacted me. (and spoiler alert! ---- honestly in the pages that follow, imma attempt to do that. realized i needed to get some filler copy up in this zine, cuz oof. it can’t all just be pictures. that being said however, i’m not trynna be too committed to the writ-

ing in here

honestly its mostly just for the a3sth3t1cs

~

~

so umm. don’t say i didn’t warn u.

so pocari. what does it mean to me? i guess personally, i have a lot fo memories associated with the beverage, so in my mind, i view it as more than just your typical run-of-the-mill electrolyte drink that keeps u hydrated. it’s a beyond that - it’s played a number of roles throughout my life

and has served as form of liquid medicine, a souvenir, an ice breaker, a milestone marker, a goodbye, and a way of visually encapsulating the end of an era. above all, however, i guess for me personally, pocari has always represented care and comfort - like somewhat of liquid hug, if you will. lol.

- erika

*as i don’t want this zine to become overly polished, the musings and unnecessary ramblings printed on the pages that follow, are there to function as filler text, and therefor will all be mostly unedited - typos and all - written in a typical erika stream of consciousness style - so lol. i apologize in advance to those who’ve actually taken the time to read this. ur the real mvp. one bicep emoji for u.

ntroduction.

welcome to mi haus pls. come in & make urself at home

why helloooo there!

3

E T

S

砂糖（国内製造）、果糖ぶどう糖液糖、果汁、食塩／酸味料、香料、塩化K、乳酸Ca、調味料（アミノ酸）、塩化Mg、酸化防止剤（ビタミンC）

Potassium Chloride

Flavor

★ ス エ ッ ト ・ ベ イ ビ ー・ ス エ ッ ト ★ ス エ ッ ト ・ ベ イ ビ ー・ ス エ ッ ト ★

Anion (mEq/L)/Cl- 16.5/citrate3- 10/lactate- 1

砂糖（国内製造）、果糖ぶどう糖液糖、果汁、食塩／酸味料、香料、塩化K、乳酸Ca、調味料（アミノ酸）、塩化Mg、酸化防止剤（ビタミンC）

N

陰イオン

E

Cation (mEq/L)/Na+ 21/K+ 5/Ca2+ 1/Mg2+ 0.5

G

電解質濃度

I

Electrolyte Concentration

N Salt

Fruit Juice

D

陽イオン

R

Magnesium Chloride

Fructose

Sugar

I

Vitamin C

-

Amino Acids

Calcium Lactate

★ ス エ ッ ト ・ ベ イ ビ ー・ ス エ ッ ト ★ ス エ ッ ト ・ ベ イ ビ ー・ ス エ ッ ト ★ 砂糖（国内製造）、果糖ぶどう糖液糖、果汁、食塩／酸味料、香料、塩化K、乳酸Ca、調味料（アミノ酸）、塩化Mg、酸化防止剤（ビタミンC）

4

nutrition facts.

PO

Nutrition Facts Serving size

500mL (1 bottle)

Amount per serving

Calories

Per 100 mL

25

Total fat 0.0 g Saturated Fat 0.0 g Trans Fat 0.0 g Cholesterol 0 mg Sodium 120 mg Total Carbohydrate 6.2 g Dietary Fiber 0.0 g Sugars 6.2 g Protein 0.0 g

CA

Calcium Iron Magnesium

2 mg 20 mg 0.6 mg

*25% lower in sugar than other sweetened beverages

⃝ 栄養成分表示 100ml当たり：エネル ギー25kcal、 タンパク 質0g、脂質0g、炭水化 物６.２g、食塩相当量

0.12g、 カリウム20mg、 カルシウム2mg、 マグネ シウム0.6mg

5

RI

⃝内容量：500ml

*nutrition facts for 500mL PET bottle of the classic pocari sweat

[P]

while pocari sweat now comes in many different forms, if you’re trying to stick to the basics, look no further than the 500mL bottled drink. this form of the lightly-flavored electrolyte beverage is the classic OG pocari sweat, and still remains the most commonly found form of the sports drink. the 500mL pet bottle version of pocari can be easily found stocked in any regular vending machine or convenience store within japan - which makes it an easy, classic choice when you just neeeed to replenish them ‘lytes on the go. pocari sweat emerged on the market in 1980, and since then has become an international sensation, and can be found sold all over the world. with time, comes innovation, and the folks at otsuka pharmaceutical have worked overtime in ensuring that there is a type of pocari for everyone - no matter the consumers’ lifestyle or preferences. pocari now comes in a number of different forms, and can be found sold in aluminum cans, pet bottles, gel packets (cuz who wouldn’t want an edible form of hydration?, and in powder form. for those with an aversion to sugar, there is also the pocari sweat ion water, with reduced sugar and artificial sweetener. i personally have yet to try the ice slurry version of pocari, but can only imagine that it must be a nice treat during a hot summer afternoon - especially in tokyo (cuz dat natsu no humidity doeee). my personal favorite however, remains the powdered packets that you mix together yourself because i enjoy having control. lol.

6

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i was never really allowed sugary drinks or snacks growing up, but it was always a given that when i was sick in bed, my mother would bring out the pocari sweat drink powder packets and would fill up a water bottle for me to consume. perhaps it was due to the lack of premium cable tv in my household growing up, but i absolutely detested being sick and having to stay home from school. i couldn’t help but lie in bed wondering what all of my friends must be getting up to at school while my intense feelings of boredom, paired with the accompanying helplessness and lethargy, plagued my body and mind. even schoolwork seemed like fun compared to the few entertainment options i had, which included either daytime television - jerry springer anyone?! - or reading the books on my bookshelves that i had already read a thousand times, or trying to sleep so i could try and drift off into a hopefully more entertaining dreamland, when i wasn’t even tired. not all was lost during

m e d s

these sick days however, because my being sick meant that i could look forward to the refreshing mineral grapefruit flavored pocari drink. sad as it sounds, it was

exciting - as it brought back summer memories of being with my grandparents in japan - AND was the closest thing i really got to candy and soda in my house, and therefore was one of the few things that sparked a little bit of joy. as a child i was convinced that pocari sweat must have some magic medicine as i often associated it with illness, and as a result, accredited it to nursing me back to health. it was a liquid delicacy that i savored and nursed while i lay in a sweat soaked bed bored, feverishly pondering whether or not it was worth it to sneak downstairs to watch the questionable daytime television that a house without premium cable could watch.

along with being liquid medicine, within my family, pocari was also regarded as a souvenir - a present to show family members that you cared. it was always one of the few things my father would ask me to bring back from my annual trips to visit my grandparents in tokyo. due to work or finances or both my father rarely came with us on our trips back to japan. however, despite this, the only things he usually request that we bring back, were boxes of pocari sweat power, and this particular variety of rice cracker. my mother and i always jokingly complained about how much the powder weighed and how it was a burden to lug across international waters in our suitcases. “why can’t you just buy the marked-up pocari bottles from the japanese super markets?” we’d ask my father? but underneath the whining, i secretly understood. you have more control with the powder. you can make it to the desired strength you want and leave flavor room for the ice cubes that would inevitably melt. it even served as a small little token of joy and comfort - as it was something i could bring home to my father when i came to visit him from tokyo during his battle with pancreatic cancer.

o m i y a g e

when my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the summer of 2016, there was little i could do. i felt helpless as i watched him slowly lose the battle against the disease. it became hard for him to eat and drink and keep things down. right before my father was diagnosed with cancer, i had made the decision to permanently relocated to tokyo. my plane tickets had already been purchased prior to his diagnosis, and it was my first real adult decision, and i figured that i should stick to it. and thus the ball had been set into motion. it was a tough decision and call me heartless and insensitive, but i came to the realization that i needed to do what i needed to do. nothing, not even my fathers diagnosis was going to stop me from doing what I needed to do. my father inevitably passed away summer 2018, but during his two year battle against his cancer i came home to visit a number of times. coming home was always hard, and i found myself in denial of what was happening, yet simultaneously taking note of the subtle changes i saw in my fathers demeanor and appearance as the chemotherapy and cancer slowly took over and ate away at his body. for a long time, i had had quite a strained relationship with my father, but despite this, it was always good to see him. and in fact, it was these trips home that helped me repair a lot of the damage done to our relationships over the years. and while i know my father appreciated me making these frequent trips home, and probably more than i can even know, i couldn’t help but feel helpless and that my company just wasn’t

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enough. so i always made sure to bring over packets of pocari sweat powder. i would mix him up the drink to take upstairs and on days that he was feeling good and had some energy, would try to keep him company in bed and it bought me comfort knowing that the while it wasn’t much, the pocari sweat was something that he could stomach and enjoy and would break up the monotony of the day.

10

AYE,

AYE,

AYEEEEEEEE!

ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. IT’S

TIME

FOR

EVERY-

BODY’S FAVORITE GAME OF “WILL IT CALF?”. THE

AND

SIMPLY

”

WILL IT

NONEXISTENT! FOR THIS EXERCISE, WE PUT OUR PHOTOSHOP SKILLS TO THE TEST AND REPLACED

ITEMS.

NOW YOU IT’S UP TO YOU TO DECIDE WHETHER IT CALF’D OR NOT! ON UR MARK, GET SET, GO!

“eww. be ying to is this tr w ‘hot dogs e n like the ?!” ’ meme or legs?

“i can’t unsee it. ”

!”

nd?

“...a

. “wait are you tte y h ague w g a b ?” in g g er hu show in the

a forty

VARIOUS

CALF? a different kind of calf

WITH

bubbies dill pickles

wait. is that a baguette?!)

a bowling pin

ERIKA’S RIGHT CALF (or

ng ethi som settling s ’ e n r u ..” “the ngely photo. stra t this u abo

. “yeah.. see it...” ’ i don t

terrible taxidermy

SIMPLE.

pic?

daikon

RULES OF THE GAME ARE

the . “lol o took wh

“how long has it been since you la st slept?”

a sub sandwich

WE’VE

h... lf?” “woa t your ca is tha

a matryoshka doll

MOMENT

kewpie mayo

THE

a rubber chicken

BUCKLE UP KIDDOS! IT’S

“lol. whut.”

because my calf looks so much like a baguette...

2019