More Japanese oddities

Just a few more observations that amuse & confuse.

- Everything is electronic. Even the local noodle stand - you put your money in the vending machine, take a ticket, and give it to the chef who gives you your noodles.
- Japanese Disneyland-goers go extreme on the Disney accessories - hats, headbands, rain ponchos, souvenir popcorn buckets, phone straps, you name it. And not just the kids, grown men and women too (see below). And lots of people carrying soft toys around - not soft toys they'd just purchased, but soft toys that they own. As if they were child-replacements. I had to join in on the dress up game (when in Rome), so I got myself a pair of clip-on Minnie Mouse ears :)
- Japanese girls dressed as dolls. Long blonde curly hair extensions, coloured contacts, mini mini mini skirts and heels. And LOTS of makeup and fake eyelashes. Can't wait to go to Harajuku this Sunday to see the madness in all it's glory.
- Job creation. There is a person to do every single thing you could possibly imagine. A man standing at the entrance to a parking building with a LED-studded hi-vis vest and orange light saber, directing cars coming out of the parking building onto the street. Women sitting in a kiosk on the train platform selling gum, snacks, papers etc. when there's a vending machine two steps away. Millions of Japanese people working in department stores where there really aren't that many customers.
- IRASSHAIMASE!!!!! Incessant over-politeness. Every time you walk past a shopkeeper, sales attendant, etc you get irasshaimase'd (funniest thing - at retail outlets they do it whether someone's coming or not, they just mumble to themselves). As you're leaving, it's a battle of "who gets last word" as they thank you for your business, you say thank you for your change, they say THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS "arigatoo gozamisahitaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" you say thank you again for serving us... a;ll with lots and lots of bowing. My favourite game is to try and get the last word at a restaurant. You're supposed to say gochisosama deshita which means "it was a real feast" (or similar) but they insist on thanking you for eating with them every step you take towards the door, to which you must of course politely bow in response and thank them back. My trick is to say it as I'm walking out the door :P
- Toilet slippers. Why do you need a separate set of slippers for inside the house, then a set for inside the toilet??? Especially when the toilet is Japanese-sized and you could probably sit straight on it from the hallway.
- Black crows: the harbingers of death. Seriously, these freaky black deathmongers are everywhere, cackling and screeching and swooping overhead ominously.
- Engrish: Please have a rocker key around on your wrist to prevent loosing. I'm keeping a log of all the Engrish I see and will post it for everyone's enjoyment after I leave Japan.






Until next time!

(PS if you didn't get it, "rocker" is supposed to be "locker")