Believe it or not, it is forbidden to put a dead body in a locker at Tokyo Station according to signs on the walls. I guess this rules out the option of a five-hundred yen funeral.
Japanese people aren't allowed to do it either
Showing posts with label Engrish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Engrish. Show all posts
My Blog Slowly Loses Its Class...
I saw this piece of shocking Engrish on the security door of a Tokyo gym that was closed for the day. I hope her shirt is referring to bicycle frames.
Around a month ago I ran into some friends on the street who invited me to go with them somewhere in the mountains for the weekend. They told me who to talk to to get the rest of the info so I gave him an email. He told me something about entering a boat race, and the total for the two day trip would be 8,000 yen, but I wasn't given any more info. Since 8,000 yen is less than 3 hours of teaching English conversation I paid, and committed to going.
The day came to go and I still had no idea what we were doing except for it involving a boat race. I met up with everyone going, three Japanese guys and a group of Californians, and we made our way to Yamanashi by way of electric trains, and a taxi to get to our cabin.
We were pleasantly surprised that we were in a cabin that overlooked Lake Kawaguchi, which sits near the base of Mt. Fuji. We had a fish dinner that came with our room and then finished the night with drinks and watching the 2008 European soccer championships. We watched World Champions Italy get held to a draw against Romania 1-1 in one of the best games I have ever watched. I even won some money on that but I chose not to collect it in the end. The game started around 12:45AM Japan time and ended around 3AM. The intensity of the game had us screaming at the top of our lungs at all the close calls!
Sucking up a GIANT spider in our kitchen
Jun turns red when he drinks
The chill-spot / soccer party
Ren, Jun, Noburo, Chelsea, Bora, Usagi, Davida, Justin, Kelsey
Looking at the lobby from a parking spot by our cabin
After turning 90 degrees to the right
Breakfast
I went to bed at 4AM, as the sky began turning from black to blue, and the stars started to fade. We woke up at 8 and ate our fish breakfast. I took a 15 minute nap, packed my stuff, and we all walked across the street to the lake for the apparent "rowing competition" we were about to partake in.
We were divided into two groups and went out on the lake with someone who had the skills to lead us. I am not sure who the people who owned the boats we used, or the people who led us out on the water, but they were very kind and also served us lunch.
Rowing was difficult and I didn't fit well in the special, sliding seats in the boats. After around 20 minutes of training, we entered a race with others who weren't that great at rowing, but also weren't beginners like us so we were the total underdogs. However, my group came in third our of four boats so I was very satisfied! Overall, it was an awesome experience and I had a blast!
Ready for some rowing!
There was some priceless "Engrish" spotted on the way home
(Caption needed)
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:
I asked on a website message board what kind of ticket I have for a concert I am going to. I specifically asked if I am on the dancefloor in front of the stage where people are dancing and "moshing". Of course I asked in Japanese but the responder replied in English and this is what he said:
"Stage is standing and on the standing.
On the standing is chear.so it can't mosh or dive or dance.But staneding isn't chear.Thus your dream come true!"
I have since asked him to please respond to me in Japanese.
Oh, he just responded and asked where the mistakes were in his English.
Hey, give a guess in the form of a comment as to what this sign means in English. Imagine you are traveling Japan and come across this sign. Would it be of any help to you? People who speak Japanese can't guess, but you can comment. 
And the answer is.....
The way I explain this sentance is as follows. First of all the use of "washroom" as opposed to "restroom" or "bathroon" probably comes from the common Japanese word "tearai" which means bathroom and uses the symbols for hand and wash. This being said, "washroom" is an acceptable word and isn't really the problem with this sentance.
"Have equipted with" should simply be "are" or "are located." I can't exactly figure out why those words were used.
The words "the back end of the plat home" has two seperate errors. The first point is that "the back end" should just be "the end." Written in the Japanese sentance is the word "hoomu" which means platform (what you wait for a train on), and was actually derived from the English word. However, "hoomu" can also mean "home" and whoever transtaled this made a worse-case-scenario-guess by turning "platform" into "plat home".
What it should be: Restrooms are at the end of the platform.
What it is: Washrooms have equipted with the back of the plat home.
