Blind People Drink Beer Too – Hallowe’en and Other Spooky Things – How Much Does A Person Weigh? – Total Illiteracy
Blind People Drink Beer Too
Honestly, why shouldn’t everyone do this, it will be free once you have set up the pressing shape for the top of the tin?
Although once I start to investigate it, I can’t find the second character in either English or Japanese Braille. Which makes me now think more cynically that the purpose may be to persuade a blind Japanese person that they are too drunk to want another beer.
Hallowe’en and Other Spooky Things
Hallowe’en is big here in Japan. In England this is the point in the year when there is no big festival between vague summer stuff and Christmas. We used to have Guy Fawkes Day with fireworks but obviously that wasn’t commercial enough, and so Hallowe’en now fills the gap, and maybe that is the same in Japan. When Sid and Doris were younger (not that long ago) we invented the Feast Of Autumn Passing. The colours were those of autumn leaves – orange, red and yellow – the traditional meal was a warming casserole of meat and mushrooms and the required ritual was to buy a packet of those tiny and reliably disappointing indoor fireworks and then turn all the lights out after the meal to admire them. It’s much cheaper than buying orange/black/white Hallowe’en stuff, unless you set fire to an expensive tablecloth…
Mr Rabbit (travelling with us in the Mini) is shown here at one of our rest halts which offered Hallowe’en-themed purchasing opportunities. Also note the person wearing a face mask behind the counter, we might talk more about that later.
While we are talking about Ghoulies and Ghosties and Things That Go Bump In The Night, can you spare a few seconds to look at this potrait on the 1000 yen note. We believe there is a secret message encoded into his moustache, if you can only work it out. Do not be distracted by the Left Eye Of Evil while you work on it.
How Much Does A Person Weigh?
We need to throw this question open to our reader(s). As you can see from this lift (elevator) information panel, your average Japanese person fully clothed weighs just over 68kg or 154lb or somewhat under 11st.
Please submit your local equivalents…
Total Illiteracy
Generally when travelling in another country you can have a bit of a go at reading the local text, and playing “if only it were English” with the language. It is very, very frustrating here to be able to read absolutely nothing. Often you are left looking at a building which is festooned with written information thinking Is it a restaurant? Or a doctor’s surgery? Or a recruitment office for the local neighbourhood militia?
