First, I don’t have anything against Japanese people. Nothing at all. Actually, I’m quite fascinated by eastern philosophy. I practiced martial arts for about five years when I was younger (and no, I didn’t "want to learn how to fight", I did it because I liked the discipline and the search for perfection).
OK, now when that’s out of the way. Japanese people are insane! Yes, they are. My first encounter with the strangeness displayed by this culture must have been some five or six years ago (or something, I forget) when I first visited the excellent web site engrish.com. It’s a site dedicated to "the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design". It’s hilarious from time to time. One of my favorites is this clothing store.
This site site has photos of some interesting vending machines that can be found in Japan. I especially like the one which sells, and I quote, "used schoolgirl panties". Say no more!
Today a co-worker showed me this site which tells the story of an american working as an assistant language teacher in three Japanese junior high schools. Not yet convinced that the Japanese are insane? Read this guy’s stories and you’ll become a believer. Hilarious stuff. Some of it made laugh so hard I almost fainted.
