Top 5 Ridiculous Comments by Japanese about the Outside World (Notes from Under the Tatami Mats–4 … My Adventures in Japan)

“Home of koala bears and kangaroos ... Canada?!?”

Just as in another developed country with a major economy, the Japanese population often seems to be pretty clueless about that great big world beyond its borders. In some cases, it’s understandable, since even the most knowledgeable people inevitably remain ignorant of various things that are alien to their culture.

Seriously? Foolishly

But at other times, it’s amazing how foolish some people can be. When the director of the English school where I worked asked me (in Japanese) if I had learned the ABCs in university, I first thought that I had not understood his question.

He could not speak English very well, so the secretary translated his question into English for me. It turned out that I had in fact understood precisely what he had asked me.    _{(Image source)}

Ignorance is excusable

The thing is, the Japanese use 4 scripts (if we include our ABCs) – Chinese kanji characters; hiragana and katakana (which are essentially phonetic supplements to kanji); and romaji (i.e., Roman characters, or the ABCs.) Of course, when studying English, they use romaji (duh!), but they also use the phonetic katakana when attempting to transcribe English into speakable Japanese.    

Apparently the director assumed (logically?) that the ABCs were just another supplement that the Japanese used in order to help them deal with that inscrutable language, English. So his ignorance might be excusable.

Ignorance is good for a laugh

But when anyone asked if we foreigners got stiff shoulders, or when someone expressed shock that I, as a foreigner, could also suffer an outer ear infection, there was really no excuse for such ignorance. But suffice it to say that I did appreciate the humor. 

As for the chef at my neighborhood izakaya (a Japanese-style pub) who believed that Canada was home to koala bears and kangaroos, I could think of no suitable response.

So I just smiled, then ordered a few more sticks of yakitori and another glass of beer.    _{(Image source)}

   Introduction to – “Notes from Under the Tatami Mats”  _{(right-click on title)}

Top 3 Ridiculous Questions by Friends Back Home

Top 3 Exceedingly Overused Japanese Words

Top 5 Myths re Things Japanese

Top 3 Weird Excuses for Japanese Behavior

... and more

Links to my Other Series …

      Introduction – "Intro to Vocab-ability"   _{(right-click on title)}
      Guide – "Guide to Entries"   _{(right-click on title)}
      Index– "Index" to all Chapters and Sections   _{(right-click on title)}

      Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 1"   _{(right-click on title)}
      Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 2"   _{(right-click on title)}

_{Images sourced from Google Images, unless otherwise indicated or unless my own.}