| Funny
Mistranslations and Mis-spellings |
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The fun begins before
you even arrive in Japan, with the official Japanese government customs
declaration.
Now I'll be the first
to admit that a 13 hour trip is a struggle, but I'm not sure I'd call it
a "fight". |
| If it's good enough
for the government then how about a bank?
I'm not sure what
they're trying to say, but I'm sure they probably attracted a lot more
male customers. |
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Here's another bank's
answer to the economic slump which has plagued Japan since 1990 - the "no
loan".
Yes sir, I'm sure
customers are falling over themselves to apply for money and be told that
they'll be given "no loan".
Who could resist,
with that cute little kitty cat on the sign? What could be
more relevant than a kitty cat? |
| Here's another innovative
way to attract customers, this time at a service station - an upside down
"out" sign. Maybe they think that putting it upside down reverses
its meaning, and people will come in.
Actually this sign
in the city of Shizuoka where my cousin lives really represents a lost
opportunity. Within a short distance another service station
had another upside down sign, this time an "in" sign! I kid
you not! I regret now that I didn't take the time to stop and
take a photo. |
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OK, my Japanese
is even worse than their English, but is this really a sign advertising
a kindergarten which teaches young children their ACBs instead of their
ABCs?
Could this be why
the Japanese are so bad at English?
Actually, no - in
Japanese the name of this school is "A-shi-be", so the sign is actually
a deliberately amusing reference. |
| Like I said, English
is actually very fashionable in Japan, and your first glance at this sign
on a building in Tokyo's downtown might make you think that Japanese youth
have also taken to "tagging" buildings with graffiti. But come
closer and you'll see that this isn't some freehand effort, it's a mass-produced
sticker! Even rebellious individualism is mass-produced here! |
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If that's one example
of the Japanese psyche, then I was even more surprised to find examples
of Japanese humor which are every bit as satirical and absurdist as anything
from the West.
You might at first
think that "fruit" and "meat" are strange things to classify as burnable
rubbish, but in fact Japanese do burn almost anything they can, regardless
of how polluting it is. However, the real joke here is that
your passport is also classified as rubbish. Presumably, the
writer expects you to enjoy Japan so much that you won't want to leave. |
| This hilarious effort
was in the window of a children's clothing store in a pedestrian mall in
Hiroshima. The Japanese dote on children, so the sentiment
expressed here certainly doesn't fit the image of the traditional Japanese.
And the children's actions in the picture don't fit the image either.
I suspect, however,
that most Japanese don't know what "the finger" gesture means - maybe that's
what makes this sign so subversive.
You can also look
at another
example of gentle Japanese humor. |
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OK, here's the grand
finale, courtesy of a tourist brochure in Kyoto. And who could
possibly resist the "newest attraction that is not to be missed ... the
chance to experience Yuzen dying firsthand"! Now I'm all for
trying things at least once, but I think that dying is one experience I'll
pass on as long as I can!
But wait, there's
more! In Kyoto you also have the opportunity to visit the Honen-in
temple, which is so utterly exclusive that "it is open to the public only"!
Man, what a lucky break, I think I'm a member of the public!
Just spare a thought for those miserable people who aren't members of the
public and aren't allowed to visit the temple - poor souls. |
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