For some reason I get a big kick out of finding the Japanglish on signs, while living here in Japan. This is actually not very nice of me because EVERY Japanese person I have met here speaks very good English compared to my Japanese. So I totally deserve it if they are all snickering behind my back.
Still, I can’t help it, and I continue to snap pictures of any funny translation of Japanese into English. It makes me laugh.
The other day I had the pleasure of being a chaperone on the 6th Grade Field trip to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan. (That is, if you count four hours on a school bus with 60 some 11ish year olds pleasurable.) Turns out, they dig the Japanglish as much as I do and we had a blast hunting some interesting signs down.
First was at the polar bear exhibit.
The kids walked around for the next two hours saying, “Hey, did you drop your thing?”
Of course, toilet humor is always fun for pre-teens and this sign was hanging underneath the tree where the sloth was allowed to climb over the crowd.
Poop = Good Times
Finally, and I can’t even say this is Japanglish, but this sign outshined even the giant pandas and the baby gorillas….
What sixth grader can resist the opportunity to use a swear word in their zoo field trip summary? I don’t think there was a kid in my group who didn’t write about these guys.
Again…Good times.
Allie and Kaylie at Ueno Zoo – Tokyo, Japan
November 15th, 2011
