In the first bizarre trend of the year, Japanese monks are taking to the inter webs to show off their moves in their robes.

Things kicked off when one of their own was issued a driving ticket for “driving in a kimono that could affect safe driving.”

For all you festival-heads returning from Falls, Lost Paradise and all manner of other festivals this week, be thankful we don’t have Japanese driving garment laws.

The monk, who was sporting a ritual Buddhist robe that fell below the knee, is refusing to pay and as a result has kicked off the “I can do it in a monks robe” craze.

A monk wearing a traditional robe walking in front of a brick wall
Don’t step in a car if your rocking this in Japan

Using the hashtag which translates to the above catchphrase, monks are now posting videos of themselves skating, juggling, skipping &…other things.

https://twitter.com/detteiu1109/status/1079715414400163841

Feel free to let us know what this is called in the comments

The Monks are aiming to prove that driving in a kimono is a safe activity, as well as numerous other activities that we might not imagine Buddhist monks taking to straight away.

Perhaps the greatest thing produced by the trend is this Monk below wielding a light-saber, essentially proving himself to be a real-life Jedi.

Is this any weirder than the Broccoli Latte trend that we saw last month? 

Maybe, maybe not. But it’s an early reason in the year to smile, and we need as much of that as we can get around here.

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