Wish
Please bring a pet's excrement home.
Every day on the way to work I pass a large office building with trees in front of it. Posted on the trees is the above-written statement, as well as what it really means in Japanese. The problem that the person who made this had is the same problem I had when I first came to Japan in 2002. Saying "please" in Japanese is a lot different from the way we say it. Instead of writing "Wish" they should have written "please" or "request". But, the word they were translating actually means "please", "wish", and even "request" which is one example why you cant use a dictionary to translate sentences in Japanese. When I first came to Japan I wanted to say "please" so I looked it up in my dictionary and it gave me the word "dozo". I used that for at least a month before I realized my mistake. "Dozo" is "please" as in, "Please help yourself to some cake" ETC. So what the Japanese people were hearing was me saying things like "Can I have more rice please help yourself?".
It is sad how the rest of the message posted on the trees ended up how it did. Doesn't it sound like you have a variety if pet feces to choose from that you are free to take home? The sign should simply say:
Please
Take your pet's droppings with you.
He pitched for the San Francisco Giants.
Photos like this really illustrate how I compare to the height of the average Japanese person.
These were taken in the Ueno district of the city in a busy little area of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. I bought pineapple on a stick!
Later we went to Ueno park and say a very impressive street performer doing various soccer moves. Check him out, and other sights from the park here:
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