Language

Japan’s seemingly indefatigable desire to decorate almost everything with English while at the same time showing an utter disregard for dictionaries, offers up an enormous, and at the same time strangely endearing, loot of language lapses.

A collection that appeals to both the pedant and the person looking for a pathetically easy post, providing a ready supply of the largely readable,

to the rather more riddle-like.

But that’s not to say Japan has a monopoly on such mistakes, as a recent trip to China proved that Japan’s near neighbour can comfortably compete on more than merely the economy, with some train travellers apparently urged to  suppress any desire to discard the staff,

regardless of how incensed they may be by the service.

There are a fair few things that Japan has borrowed from Britain, like Tokyo’s train system for example, although thankfully it has been forged into something phenomenally efficient rather than merely farcical like its fractured forefather.

Somewhat more surprising, however, is the recent adoption of the time-honoured tradition of a really good ruckus after getting absolutely routed.

And, true to form, it has been civilised somewhat, although sadly it seems the odd knifing might still be necessary.

Plus, should there be a paltry number of people, or those present aren’t nearly inebriated enough, proceedings can always be kicked off with a heated debate-cum-argument over the correct placement of apostrophes.

Or commas come to think of it.

The Japanese car industry has been commanding for a considerable amount of time now, but although it’s not in the same near-collapse conundrum as a considerable number of its competitors, in reality things really aren’t that rosy, with Honda postponing production in some plants and Toyota suffering some sizeable setbacks.

At least one manufacturer, however, has decided to fight back, deducing that this decline may not be entirely due to the worldwide economic downturn, but could also have something to do with a dearth of desirable cars. A sense perhaps that pragmatism rather than pleasure has bored would-be buyers. And as such, it has sensationally opted to spur sales by making its product action-packed as well as appealing.

Apparently.