Did You Know Hello Kitty Has an Evil Twin?
Japan has to be the world export leader of all things cute and among their cute exports, Hello Kitty is probably the most famous. Everyone knows her, but very few are familiar with her equally cute, but decidedly more evil, twin Hell Kitty. Surprisingly, it's the good twin who seems to have set her sights on world domination, with stores and products all over the planet, while … [Read more...]
Spring Themed Japanese Smoking Manners Posters
I figured it's time for some spring-themed smoking manners posters. This first one refers to the pollen problem in Japan, which really does get pretty bad, thanks to the Japanese Cedar. Most visitors end up suffering quite a bit, even if they don't generally get allergies in their home countries. Luckily I never had a problem, but most of my less perfect coworkers always got … [Read more...]
Funny Bad English on a Japanese Notebook
Going through my bags recently, I found this notebook I bought a few years ago in Osaka during my last visit to Japan and I thought the little saying was hilarious. As is usually the case, it is unintentionally hilarious due to a bad English translation. In this case it's only slightly off. Let me state right off the bat that I could be very wrong, but I would have translated … [Read more...]
Winter Themed Japanese Smoking Manners Posters
Fellow blogger Erica Jordan recently brought an article to my attention about a new strategy being adopted by the anti-smoking organization "Legacy". Rather than focus on the health consequences of smoking as they've been doing, they are now attacking cigarettes as litter. My immediate thought was: "That's not new!" That sign is one of almost 80 in a long-running smoking … [Read more...]