世論 What Japan Thinks

Watching television last night, one quiz program featured a question about someone who kept a garden specialising in one single genus. One member of the genus is called 姑のざぶとん, shutome no zabuton, mother-in-law cushion, so what is the genus. I laughed out loud at such an obvious and easy question and at the image of this cushion, but my Japanese wife looked blank, and even after explaining the answer to her she just didn’t get it. Back in the studio, just one out of the six celebrities on the panel got the right answer, the sweet and innocent 乙葉, Otoha, but she had to suffer the disapproval of the other guests, and apologised to the question-master and the audience at home for casting such aspersions on mother-in-laws everywhere.

I thought the mother-in-law as the butt of jokes was a universal theme. Is this just a British thing, or do my readers from other countries also find the name “mother-in-law cushion” hilarious?

Following on from the recent census, there are some additional questions that need to be answered by all foreigners living in Japan. I urge all readers to urgently visit this page and complete the survey! (*^_^*)

Also, sorry, but real life’s been a bit busy so updates are thin on the ground!