A new subculture has popped up amongst Japan's cute-obsessed: photos of hamster's asses. The Wall Street Journal has a story today about the budding "hamuketsu" scene, which has produced two fast-selling books of photos of hamsters taken from behind.

The books Kawaisa-ni Monzetsu Hamuketsu (translated: Hamuketsu–So Cute You Could Faint) and Hamuketsu have shipped a combined 45,000 copies so far, and each is pages and pages of hamsters doing hamster things with their asses up in the air. Takeshi Takahashi, a spokesperson for the company that published the latter book, summed up the appeal of "hamuketsu" thusly:

"The great thing about hamuketsu is that it is delightfully cute. I can't stop smiling when I see these butts," he said.

Preach, man. Preach.

[image via Sekai Bunka Publishing]