If anyone has any funny stories about their trip or experience in Japan, please share them.
Here's mine . . .
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| Apparently this shirt I bought says something quite perverted. |
I bought this shirt in a normal looking clothes store in Sapporo, with a word on it (pronounced doh-eh-doh) the most comfortable shirt I have ever worn! The day I wore it, we took an early flight from Sapporo to Tokyo. Some very strange things happened to us that day.
Normally, all encounters with the Japanese are very courteous - excellent customer service - except this day. The luggage check-in people were staring and laughing. The one man said, "Your shirt! There is no English word for it."
I approached the info desk at the airport two times for guidance, both times the receptionist ladies all seemed to be giggling about something, I just brushed it off as normal worktime banter. As we were waiting, two police officers approached us, apparently checking us out and asking many questions. However, it was all smiles and a friendly encounter after my wife started speaking with them in Japanese. On the plane, the stewardess kept passing me and my whole family over while everyone else were getting drinks - short flight, no big deal.
We ate at a small place in a mall. The service. . . something just wasn't right, awkward, not as friendly as usual. It didn't help when I approached the waitress and requested another hot dog style meal. We finally met up with my mother-in-law at the airport in Tokyo, who is Japanese and fluent. However, she didn't notice the shirt.
We got some light meals to snack on as we were waiting for another flight. As we were sitting at the eating area, my mother-in-law noticed a couple girls at an adjacent table. They were laughing pretty hard, and I guess they may have pointed towards my direction as I walked by. With a gasp, she pointed at me and said I must not wear this shirt. Again, she didn't know a word for it in English. Instead, she immediately bought a new shirt for me to change into.
Apparently, the wording means some kind of super pervert, maybe even a professional at it - if that's possible. Upon learning this, all the strange events of the entire day now made sense. Definitely a trip to remember! Moral: Don't buy a shirt unless you know what it means,
. . . unless you want to.
Oddly enough, on my next trip through Japan, I was pulled aside at airport security in Tokyo. Ended up in a small room off to the side and was checked again individually. I wonder if I am now 'marked' on some list by their government. We'll see what happens next time.
