Day 26: Wednesday November 12th

It's been very, very difficult to not take pictures of every hilarious English-translation we see. There are many of them, and they are all incorrect in their own unique and revealing way. Mostly the humor comes from translations that convey a literal translation of words as opposed to the intended meaning. (I saw a shirt yesterday that said something along the lines of, 'It is not good to do the things to the halfway only,' instead of, say, 'Give it your all' etc.) I have to assume that the English/Japanese translation is extremely difficult, because even large corporations, which presumably have the funds to hire someone proficient in both languages, have these kinds of incorrect translations on their products. And, one certainly doesn't want to appear to be mocking another's best efforts, especially when our Japanese language skills are worse than, say, Archer's.

Still, sometimes we can't resist:

I'll give you one guess as to what it tastes like.

Deep, man.

Just as enjoyable is the Japanese belief that crying is the ultimate punishment. Whereas a warning sign in the U.S. might depict a severed hand or foot if you aren't careful, 90% of their warning signs depict someone or something in tears as a result of a poor decision.

Put your hand in the closing elevator doors? You will cry.

Climb up this utility pole? You will cry.

Japanese children have the ability to make inanimate objects break out into anxiety attacks with their carelessness.

And some, well... some just defy explanation:

If your dog is going to poop, for God's sake, don't let him read the paper...

...and please maintain a cheerful, sunny disposition while cleaning it up.


Noooooooo!

This is especially for Kyle:

A Domino's Pizza ad arrived in our mailbox yesterday. Let's just say it's something quite different than the Domino's in the U.S.

What first struck us was the pricing--that's about $65 for a large pizza plus sides! $65!!

But when we opened the ad, it became even more amazing:

Hm. Interesting looking pizza. Let's take a closer look:

Great Caesar's Ghost they've got Truffles and beef stew on one half, and shrimp with camembert cheese on the other... and it's topped off with huge chunks of brie!

Left to right, we have: 'chiki-teri', 'mayo-jaga', and 'mayo-tuna and corn'!

No wonder we're falling so far behind the Japanese--we can't even keep up with them in their dining options. Although in this case, I'm not sure we'd want to...