Gaigogu grafitti
Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
gaigins leaving grafitti all over ancient monuments. Before you all
get het up, it was Gapanese gaigins in Europe scribbling ganji on the
Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc.
They then did a regular bit of testing the average
person-in-the-Tokyo-street's general knowledge of Japanese thingies.
This time it was to write all the names of the 6 (?) prefectures in
Kyushu on a map of said island. Out of about 80-or-so people, they
showed two people presented with the map asking if it really was a bit
of Japan. The second of these two idiots had a go, starting from the
NW clockwise with Tokushima-ken, Kita-kyushu-ken, Hataka-ken,
Kobe-ken...
Ken
Eric Takabayashi
Ask Japanese in any language if the name of the prefecture is "Ibaraki"
or "Ibaragi". Not even NHK or other late night news seem to be able to
make up their mind.
Michael Cash
<eta...@yahoo.co.jp> belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
My experience has been that people who actually live there call it
"Ibaraki", while those from other places are split on the subject.
--
Michael Cash
"There was a time, Mr. Cash, when I believed you must be the most useless
thing in the world. But that was before I read a Microsoft help file."
Prof. Ernest T. Bass
Mount Pilot College
John W.
history than most of my Japanese friends, mainly because I have an
interest in it; but many of them know more about American music than I
care to know. Just yesterday I was talking with a student about bathing
customs in the US and Japan. She insisted that Japanese people always
wash off before entering the bath, and insisted that's the custom. I
suggested that the next time she visits an onsen she should really pay
attention to what people (herself included)acutally do.
John W.
Ryan Ginstrom
"John W." <worth...@yahoo.komm> wrote in message
news:3F4380FB...@yahoo.komm...
> customs in the US and Japan. She insisted that Japanese people always
> wash off before entering the bath, and insisted that's the custom. I
> suggested that the next time she visits an onsen she should really pay
> attention to what people (herself included)acutally do.
This is probably a girl/guy thing. Lots of Japanese women will insist that
Japanese wash before entering the bath. That's because I suspect that most
women do indeed wash first.
Us guys know that many Japanese men will just give a token splash to the
crotch out of that dipper thing, then jump right in.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
Rindler Sigurd
> or "Ibaragi". Not even NHK or other late night news seem to be able to
> make up their mind.
>
OK, in this case ask a gaijin (me)...:-)
Ibaragi (the prefecture where the best nattou derives) = old name
Ibaraki " " = new name
Ibaraki = suburb of Osaka
______________________________________________________________________
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John Yamamoto-Wilson
> She insisted that Japanese people always
> wash off before entering the bath, and insisted that's the custom. I
> suggested that the next time she visits an onsen she should really pay
> attention to what people (herself included)acutally do.
As I understand it, it's not considered essential to wash oneself down
before getting into the onsen (hot spring), because that's running water,
but it would be a definite faux pas to not wash oneself down before getting
into the sentou (public baths), because that's standing water - not that
many people use the public baths any more, now that everyone has a bathroom
of their own at home.
Kevin Gowen
When will you be making your first trip to Japan?
- Kevin
John Yamamoto-Wilson
> > As I understand it, it's not considered essential to wash oneself down
> > before getting into the onsen (hot spring), because that's running
water,
> > but it would be a definite faux pas to not wash oneself down before
getting
> > into the sentou (public baths), because that's standing water - not that
> > many people use the public baths any more, now that everyone has a
bathroom
> > of their own at home.
Kevin Gowen replied:
> When will you be making your first trip to Japan?
Oh, you are a wag! But there are people who were born here and lived all
their lives here who earnestly testify to the truth of the above, my merry
prankster!
I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say whether people
wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the hot spring. Not that my
observations matter much; what's *really* needed is for Eric to resolve the
matter once and for all by drumming up some statistics...
Ryan Ginstrom
"John Yamamoto-Wilson" <jo...@rarebooksinjapan.com> wrote in message
news:bi465h$50u08$1...@ID-169501.news.uni-berlin.de...
> I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say whether
people
> wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the hot spring. Not that
my
> observations matter much; what's *really* needed is for Eric to resolve
the
> matter once and for all by drumming up some statistics...
I've been to my share of sentos, myself. There was this great one near my
first apartment in Japan. There were two entrances, one for men, and one for
women, that led straight to the changing rooms, baths behind them.
There was about a 30cm gap between the noren and the top of the doorframe,
and the road sloped upward slightly from the door, so with my height I had a
perfect view of the women's changing room from the road. Most of the female
bathers were rather old, alas, but once in a while the view would be pretty
nice.
So what were we talking about? Oh yeah, bathing before entering the furo.
Although it seems from some casual questioning that most women do indeed
wash before entering the bath, many, many men do not. In fact, you never
really needed to give the disclaimer about never having been to a sento --
your claim that it should seem odd made that perfectly clear. Unless you're
a woman mascarading as a man, which would be a pretty odd but welcome change
to the more familiar pattern.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
Kevin Gowen
> I wrote:
>
>> > As I understand it, it's not considered essential to wash oneself down
>> > before getting into the onsen (hot spring), because that's running
> water,
>> > but it would be a definite faux pas to not wash oneself down before
> getting
>> > into the sentou (public baths), because that's standing water - not that
>> > many people use the public baths any more, now that everyone has a
> bathroom
>> > of their own at home.
>
> Kevin Gowen replied:
>
>> When will you be making your first trip to Japan?
>
> Oh, you are a wag!
Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
> But there are people who were born here and lived all
> their lives here who earnestly testify to the truth of the above, my merry
> prankster!
>
> I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say whether people
> wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the hot spring. Not that my
> observations matter much; what's *really* needed is for Eric to resolve the
> matter once and for all by drumming up some statistics...
Oh, I wasn't referring to the bit about washing off. It was the
statement, "not that many people use the public baths any more" that
caught my eye.
--
Kevin Gowen
"I like old Joe. Joe is a decent fellow,"
- U.S. President Harry S Truman, speaking for all liberals by saying
about Stalin what he should have said about McCarthy
Brett Robson
>
>Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
>
"scalawag", is that part of your unusual colonial lexicon?
>--
>Kevin Gowen
>"I like old Joe. Joe is a decent fellow,"
> - U.S. President Harry S Truman, speaking for all Americans
-
----
"One way for us to be be seen as the ugly American is to go around the world
saying we do it this way so should you"
- Gov George W Bush
John Yamamoto-Wilson
>Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
In my quaint variety of the lingo it's "scallywag", but we only use it of
kids under the age of about twelve. After that it's just plain "delinquent".
> Oh, I wasn't referring to the bit about washing off. It was the
> statement, "not that many people use the public baths any more" that
> caught my eye.
Well, in my circles people frequently say, "Let's go to the hot spring," and
I've been dozens of times, but no one's ever said, "Let's go to the public
baths". I did read somewhere that there's something like one public bath now
for every fifty in the immediate post-war period, but once again we need
Eric to come along with some statistics to settle this.
Still, never mind all that, what matters is that you're still out there at
the age of - what, thirty or so? - being a "scalawag".
There's a good old boy!
Kevin Gowen
> Kevin Gowen wrote:
>
>>Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
>
> In my quaint variety of the lingo it's "scallywag",
That's an alternate spelling, yes. FWIW, the spellchecker on my
newsreader trips up on "scallywag" but doesn't bat an eye at "scalawag".
Perhaps the reverse would happen if I were to switch it to the UK
dictionary.
> but we only use it of
> kids under the age of about twelve. After that it's just plain "delinquent".
Hmm. In God's country, "delinquent" in this sense of the word is
generally reserved for minors e.g. "juvenile delinquent". "Scalawag"
doesn't get much use, I'm afraid. In this area of the country,
"scalawag" also has the meaning of a white male Southron who profited
from Reconstruction.
>> Oh, I wasn't referring to the bit about washing off. It was the
>> statement, "not that many people use the public baths any more" that
>> caught my eye.
>
> Well, in my circles people frequently say, "Let's go to the hot spring," and
> I've been dozens of times, but no one's ever said, "Let's go to the public
> baths". I did read somewhere that there's something like one public bath now
> for every fifty in the immediate post-war period, but once again we need
> Eric to come along with some statistics to settle this.
While I don't know that 1:50 figure, I'm quite sure that there are less
sentou today then back then. However, IME many people still go to them.
When I lived in Japan I went to the local sentou with friends several
times a month even though I had a bath in my home. The place always
seemed to be doing a brisk business. A quick Google search reveals that
it actually has a home page.
There were other, much smaller Mom and Pop sentou in Matsusaka, but I
only went to Matsusaka no Yu. It had video games and katsu curry. How
could I refuse?
> Still, never mind all that, what matters is that you're still out there at
> the age of - what, thirty or so? - being a "scalawag".
Not thirty just yet. What can I say? I'm whimsical.
> There's a good old boy!
It's fun. I'd go cuckoo, otherwise.
John Yamamoto-Wilson
> There were other, much smaller Mom and Pop sentou in Matsusaka, but I
> only went to Matsusaka no Yu. It had video games and katsu curry. How
> could I refuse?
Didn't know you had such plebian tastes!
> > Still, never mind all that, what matters is that you're still out there
> > at the age of - what, thirty or so? - being a "scalawag".
>
> Not thirty just yet. What can I say? I'm whimsical.
>
> > There's a good old boy!
>
> It's fun. I'd go cuckoo, otherwise.
If you're pushing thirty and still being a "scalawag" you must have already
*gone* cuckoo. But it's OK. As long as you don't *know* you've gone cuckoo
you can continue to simulate normal functioning. My telling you this won't
upset the apple cart, since you already discount anything I say as
meaningless (it's part of being cuckoo).
> "I like old Joe. Joe is a good old boy" (Truman on Stalin)
I fixed this. What Harry Truman *actually* said shouldn't be allowed to
stand in the way of what he *should have said.
Michael Cash
the alphabet and kept on going with:
>On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 00:56:13 -0400, Kevin Gowen ...
>>
>>Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
>>
>
>"scalawag", is that part of your unusual colonial lexicon?
That, and terms like "carpet-bagger". Just to help you out, I'll use
it in a sentence: "Hillary Clinton is a carpet-bagger."
Ryan Ginstrom
"Michael Cash" <mike...@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:p28ckvs7ui0pgkl73...@4ax.com...
> That, and terms like "carpet-bagger". Just to help you out, I'll use
> it in a sentence: "Hillary Clinton is a carpet-bagger."
Whereas Chelsey is a double bagger?
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
John W.
> John Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:
>
>>
>> I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say
>> whether people wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the
>> hot spring. Not that my observations matter much; what's *really*
>> needed is for Eric to resolve the matter once and for all by
>> drumming up some statistics...
>
>
> Oh, I wasn't referring to the bit about washing off. It was the
> statement, "not that many people use the public baths any more" that
> caught my eye.
>
closed up shop and turned the building into a daycare. That was the last
real sentou in a neighborhood that ten years ago had two or three.
John W.
John W.
>
> Oh, you are a wag! But there are people who were born here and lived
> all their lives here who earnestly testify to the truth of the above,
> my merry prankster!
>
> I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say whether
> people wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the hot
> spring.
In my experience it really depends on the person. If the guy is going
there to relax, then he treats it like an onsen and *maybe* puts some
water over his privates. But if he's going to wash off (which is, I
suppose, the point of sentou) then he does that. But I'd say
overwhelmingly men treat the sentou just like an onsen, which is to say
they pour on a little water, hit the steam room and baths, and then wash
thoroughly. I even saw a guy in a health club do this, which I found a
bit disgusting considering I had watched him run on the treadmill and
then lift weights.
Once in a Korean sentou I found in the bath something that can only be
described as poop. That was the last trip to small sentou in Korea.
John W.
John W.
> On 21 Aug 2003 22:27:23 -0700, Brett Robson <jet...@deja.com> belched
> the alphabet and kept on going with:
>
>
>>On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 00:56:13 -0400, Kevin Gowen ...
>>
>>>Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
>>>
>>
>>"scalawag", is that part of your unusual colonial lexicon?
>
>
> That, and terms like "carpet-bagger". Just to help you out, I'll use
> it in a sentence: "Hillary Clinton is a carpet-bagger."
>
John W.
Michael Cash
belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
>Michael Cash wrote:
>> On 21 Aug 2003 22:27:23 -0700, Brett Robson <jet...@deja.com> belched
>> the alphabet and kept on going with:
>>
>>
>>>On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 00:56:13 -0400, Kevin Gowen ...
>>>
>>>>Sometimes I am a scalawag, even.
>>>>
>>>
>>>"scalawag", is that part of your unusual colonial lexicon?
>>
>>
>> That, and terms like "carpet-bagger". Just to help you out, I'll use
>> it in a sentence: "Hillary Clinton is a carpet-bagger."
>>
>I'd say Bill is the carpet bagger.
Then you don't know what a carpet-bagger is.
Michael Cash
<gins...@hotmail.com> belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
Yes.
Buddy was a new family dog, to replace the one that went off to
college.
Kevin Gowen
Maybe it was a Baby Ruth.
"This crowd has gone deadly silent, a Cinderella story outta nowhere.
Former greenskeeper and now about to become the masters champion..."
Kevin Gowen
> Kevin Gowen wrote:
> > John Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say
> >> whether people wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the
> >> hot spring. Not that my observations matter much; what's *really*
> >> needed is for Eric to resolve the matter once and for all by
> >> drumming up some statistics...
> >
> >
> > Oh, I wasn't referring to the bit about washing off. It was the
> > statement, "not that many people use the public baths any more" that
> > caught my eye.
> >
> I'd guess that's fairly accurate. I know a sentou owner in Himeji that
> closed up shop and turned the building into a daycare. That was the last
> real sentou in a neighborhood that ten years ago had two or three.
>
> John W.
Kevin Gowen
> Kevin Gowen wrote:
>
>> There were other, much smaller Mom and Pop sentou in Matsusaka, but I
>> only went to Matsusaka no Yu. It had video games and katsu curry. How
>> could I refuse?
>
> Didn't know you had such plebian tastes!
>
>> > Still, never mind all that, what matters is that you're still out there
>> > at the age of - what, thirty or so? - being a "scalawag".
>>
>> Not thirty just yet. What can I say? I'm whimsical.
>>
>> > There's a good old boy!
>>
>> It's fun. I'd go cuckoo, otherwise.
>
> If you're pushing thirty and still being a "scalawag" you must have already
> *gone* cuckoo. But it's OK. As long as you don't *know* you've gone cuckoo
> you can continue to simulate normal functioning. My telling you this won't
> upset the apple cart, since you already discount anything I say as
> meaningless (it's part of being cuckoo).
No, I only dismiss things you say that only find their support on the
web pages of the Socialist Club of the World (or whatever it is called)
and other such crackpots.
>> "I like old Joe. Joe is a good old boy" (Truman on Stalin)
>
> I fixed this. What Harry Truman *actually* said shouldn't be allowed to
> stand in the way of what he *should have said.
Hmm. http://tinyurl.com/kv8t gets zero hits, as does a Lexis search, but
I do not doubt your superior knowledge of complimentary remarks made
about your Communist heroes. However, the quote stays as it is until I
find confirmation of your version.
I took the quote from the Times's obituary for Stalin, "Obituary: Stalin
Rose From Czarist Oppression to Transform Russia into Mighty Socialist
State" (March 6, 1953) (ooh! mighty!)
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1221.html
Could those goofy bastards have gushed over him any more? I don't
suppose you were at the NY Times back then?
John Yamamoto-Wilson
> > If you're pushing thirty and still being a "scalawag" you must have
already
> > *gone* cuckoo. But it's OK. As long as you don't *know* you've gone
cuckoo
> > you can continue to simulate normal functioning. My telling you this
won't
> > upset the apple cart, since you already discount anything I say as
> > meaningless (it's part of being cuckoo).
Kevin said:
> No, I only dismiss things you say that only find their support on the
> web pages of the Socialist Club of the World (or whatever it is called)
> and other such crackpots.
So you don't dismiss my characterisation of you as cuckoo, then?
> >> "I like old Joe. Joe is a good old boy" (Truman on Stalin)
> >
> > I fixed this. What Harry Truman *actually* said shouldn't be allowed to
> > stand in the way of what he *should have said.
>
> Hmm. http://tinyurl.com/kv8t gets zero hits, as does a Lexis search, but
> I do not doubt your superior knowledge of complimentary remarks made
> about your Communist heroes. However, the quote stays as it is until I
> find confirmation of your version.
Um, Kevin, something wrong with your reading skills here! Let me help you:
<joke html/start>
> >> "I like old Joe. Joe is a good old boy" (Truman on Stalin)
> >
> > I fixed this. What Harry Truman *actually* said shouldn't be allowed to
> > stand in the way of what he *should* have said.
<joke html/end>
Sheesh! I guess that fixes it in one way. Ruins it in another, though. Guess
it can't be helped. Humour's dead as a doornail if people are dumb enough
not to get it!
Never mind, Kevin, there's a good old boy!
Kevin Gowen
> I said:
>
>> > If you're pushing thirty and still being a "scalawag" you must have
> already
>> > *gone* cuckoo. But it's OK. As long as you don't *know* you've gone
> cuckoo
>> > you can continue to simulate normal functioning. My telling you this
> won't
>> > upset the apple cart, since you already discount anything I say as
>> > meaningless (it's part of being cuckoo).
>
> Kevin said:
>
>> No, I only dismiss things you say that only find their support on the
>> web pages of the Socialist Club of the World (or whatever it is called)
>> and other such crackpots.
>
> So you don't dismiss my characterisation of you as cuckoo, then?
Not at all.
>> >> "I like old Joe. Joe is a good old boy" (Truman on Stalin)
>> >
>> > I fixed this. What Harry Truman *actually* said shouldn't be allowed to
>> > stand in the way of what he *should have said.
>>
>> Hmm. http://tinyurl.com/kv8t gets zero hits, as does a Lexis search, but
>> I do not doubt your superior knowledge of complimentary remarks made
>> about your Communist heroes. However, the quote stays as it is until I
>> find confirmation of your version.
>
> Um, Kevin, something wrong with your reading skills here! Let me help you:
Always looking to be helped.
> <joke html/start>
>> >> "I like old Joe. Joe is a good old boy" (Truman on Stalin)
>> >
>> > I fixed this. What Harry Truman *actually* said shouldn't be allowed to
>> > stand in the way of what he *should* have said.
> <joke html/end>
>
> Sheesh! I guess that fixes it in one way. Ruins it in another, though. Guess
> it can't be helped. Humour's dead as a doornail if people are dumb enough
> not to get it!
Yes, sometimes people are just too dumb to realize when someone is being
funny. Yahoo Serious often lectures on this subject.
> Never mind, Kevin, there's a good old boy!
You must excuse me, John. Not being English, I sometimes find your sense
of humor rather difficult to follow!
John W.
> John W. wrote:
> > John Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Oh, you are a wag! But there are people who were born here and lived
> > > all their lives here who earnestly testify to the truth of the above,
> > > my merry prankster!
> > >
> > > I've never been to a sentou myself, so I really couldn't say whether
> > > people wash off more consistently in the sentou than in the hot
> > > spring.
> >
> > In my experience it really depends on the person. If the guy is going
> > there to relax, then he treats it like an onsen and *maybe* puts some
> > water over his privates. But if he's going to wash off (which is, I
> > suppose, the point of sentou) then he does that. But I'd say
> > overwhelmingly men treat the sentou just like an onsen, which is to say
> > they pour on a little water, hit the steam room and baths, and then wash
> > thoroughly. I even saw a guy in a health club do this, which I found a
> > bit disgusting considering I had watched him run on the treadmill and
> > then lift weights.
> >
> > Once in a Korean sentou I found in the bath something that can only be
> > described as poop. That was the last trip to small sentou in Korea.
>
> Maybe it was a Baby Ruth.
>
think it was a glob of junk that somehow made it up out of a very old
drain because it looked like a poopy hair ball contraption.
John W.
John Yamamoto-Wilson
> You must excuse me, John. Not being English, I sometimes find your sense
> of humor rather difficult to follow!
Good grief, man! The times I've cajoled you to cough up an apology and
you've stonewalled me on every occasion, and now here you are apologising
for - of all things - not being English!
What can I say? You are forgiven, you are forgiven!
Brett Robson
>
>--
>Kevin Gowen
>"I like old Joe. Joe is a decent fellow,"
> - U.S. President Harry S Truman, speaking for all liberals by saying
>about Stalin what he should have said about McCarthy
>
Ann Coulter has a chapter devoted to Truman?
.
Brett Robson
and how exactly did you stumble across that? Let me guess, after reading it in,
say Anne Coulter's book, you did a google search to come up with a better place
to cite it as a reference?
>--
>Kevin Gowen
>"I like old Joe. Joe is a decent fellow,"
> - U.S. President Harry S Truman, as President speaking for all
> US Postal Worders by saying about Stalin what he should have said
> about McCarthy
>
(that McCarthy is a prisoner of the Politburo?)
Isn't it correct to include ellipses when you omit part of a sentence?
thus
"I like old Joe. Joe is a decent fellow, ... "