I had one of these “you know you’ve been in Japan too long” moments reading this list, as for three or four of them I had to stop and think if they really were Japanese inventions, 和製英語, wasei eigo, Japanese-style English! How many of these expressions that the Japanese didn’t know were Japanese-English, as reported by goo Ranking, did you have to mentally double-check? The survey was conducted between the 28th and 30th of August 2007. Read the rest of this entry »
Just a couple of days ago there was a report from Reuters on a forthcoming Daddy exam for Japanese fathers to hone their parenting skills on. Looking around the Japanese web I found many weird and wonderful exams and qualifications, or 検定, kentei as they are called in Japaneseso for your enjoyment and edification I present the top ten strangest qualificatons I came across!
10. Mount Fuji Master
As the Japanese proverb says, “He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool.” Perhaps there should be an extension to cover those who sit all three levels of the Mount Fuji Kentei? Whether or not any of the questions involve the vending machines at the top of the mountain is unknown.
9. Comic Certification
I suppose it is inevitable that there is a manga-based examination. This one by ebook Japan offers three levels of certification in the way of Japanese comics from beginner to master otaku. If the subject matter is too broad, they offer separate qualifications for specific comic book series from Princess Princess to Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro. Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s another entertaining find from goo Ranking, this time the top ten actions that women think makes men look manly. The fieldwork was conducted between the 20th and 24th of July 2007, but as usual no further demographic information was available.
Sadly there is no guys rating women equivalent of this survey published yet, but if it appears I’ll be sure to report on it.
I thought that smoking activities were rather high on the list, and does choosing a drink for the ladies really impress them? Quite frankly, most of the answers are characteristics I might expect to see in hosts, not the average guy. Perhaps these results go some way to explain why host bars exist? Read the rest of this entry »
For me, the big thing I wished I’d done by thirty was worked abroad; I did get an opportunity to go to work in Paris for at least six months when I was about 27 or so, but I thought of too many excuses as to why I shouldn’t or couldn’t take up the offer. Regretting turning that down was one of the reasons I jumped at the chance of coming to Japan, in fact. Finding a local was also something I suppose I would have liked to have done, but I’d probably have turned into a horrendous alcoholic had I managed! Read the rest of this entry »
If you’ve ever lived in the Kansai area of Japan, you’ll surely have heard of the reputation of Osaka old ladies for their distinctive characteristics such as… Well, let’s just see what comes to mind when the Japanese think of Osaka grannies in this fun survey from goo Ranking. The fieldwork was done between the 19th and 21st of June 2007 amongst people from all over Japan.
KANJANI8 (or 関ジャニ∞ to use their Japanese name) sing a song “Osaka Obachan (old lady/granny) Rock” that can be viewed here, assuming it doesn’t get pulled due to copyright violations:
This is probably the strangest survey I’ve translated since my one on the top folklore and superstitions. This time we look with goo Ranking at the urban legends that might just be true. As I am no expert in Japanese rumours, some of the translations may be wrong, and some of the rumours just seem rather odd, but I hope my readers can help me out. The survey was conducted between the 19th and 21st of June 2007.
I thought that fan death was interesting – this is a popular legend in Korea, but I didn’t know anyone really took it seriously in Japan. Perhaps interestingly, number 10, skin breathing, comes from the Bond film Goldfinger. Ian Fleming invented other such rumours, for example the one about Sumo wrestlers being trained to retract their testicles, and that gay people cannot whistle. Finally, I’d be shocked, quite frankly, if there wasn’t a bomb shelter underneath the Diet! Perhaps, however, the rumours go further.
…of in the summer, just to finish off the dangling headline. I’m back from my holidays, and back to stupidly hot temperatures around double of what I left back in the UK and Germany, so to tie in with the hot and humid weather right now (and it’s going to get a lot hotter and more humid before it’s done) let’s look with goo Ranking at what summer smells people hate. As usual for these ranking surveys, demographic information is not available, just that on the 22nd and 23rd of May a number of members of the goo Research monitor group completed an online survey on this topic.
One may notice that the top pong, body odour, relates to one of these things that foreigners hear (perhaps only from other foreigners?) about how the Japanese don’t sweat.
Finally, the kanji used in the headline, 悪臭, akushuu, consists of two kanji for bad and smell, and means exactly that. Read the rest of this entry »
If you asked a group of western foreigners what kindnesses they thought the Japanese were failing to do, undoubtedly Ladies First would appear near the top of the list. However, when goo Ranking asked the Japanese what kindnesses they themselves couldn’t do, Ladies First appeared nowhere on the list, not due to all Japanese men thinking they always show respect, but just due to the fact that Ladies First is not a concept that appears anywhere in Japanese etiquette. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 9th and 17th of May 2007 7,735 members of their monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 44.3% of the sample was male.
goo Ranking recently published, as selected by goo Research’s monitor pool over the 19th and 20th of April 2007, Japan’s most curiously-named stations.
Some of the names are amusing, others are strange, and a few more I just don’t get! Any help would be more than welcome.
Note that the number one choice is Japan’s longest station name. This title used to be held by 「ルイス・C.ティファニー庭園美術館前駅」, “Louis C Tiffany Garden Museum Mae Station”, but the museum closed down and the station was renamed to the slightly shorter 「松江イングリッシュガーデン前駅」, “Matsue English Garden Mae Station”, apparently on the 21st of May 2007. Note that at the time of writing, Wikipedia wrongly reports this as the longest Japanese station name in a link from their Louis C Tiffany page.
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