Now that I’ve been in Japan almost six years (collectively - between touring, study abroad and vacations), I’ll admit to turning a blind eye to this lovely country’s rather special[?] mangling of the English language. As it’s come to be known, “Engrish” is so amusing that an entire online world has sprung up to spread its accidental pearls of wisdom - my two favorite websites being www.engrish.com and www.japander.com. The second is not Engrish per se, but seeing American celebrities endorse Japanese drinks is well worth the [free] price of admission. Also, my friend Laura’s Instagram feed features some hilarious Engrish examples.
Years ago (ok, last week), I found myself ranting to a Japanese/English bilingual friend about how Engrish is destroying the fabric of Japanese society and blah-blah-blah. While I was still foaming at the mouth, said friend calmly pointed out all the folks he’d seen in the U.S. sporting Japanese/Chinese kanji character tattoos, often written upside down or backwards, thereby cementing - beyond any shadow of doubt - that the tattoo wearer was clueless as to the meaning of the character.
(He then went on to remind me of a text message I had sent him which, in addition to being chock full of typos, “lols” and what could best be described as drunken sexting by someone without opposable thumbs, was rife for parody. We finally decided to agree that language has a tendency to evolve/devolve, for better or worse…)
So - with that, I would like to take a moment to present you with some cute band names as displayed on stickers affixed to the backstage area walls of Fuchu Flight.
NO SPEAK ENGLISH? SURELY, YOU JEST…
SECOND PANEL DOWN, LEFT SIDE. DEMON MONSTER BEST BE GIVING THE THUMBS UP AND NOT MAKING DEMON BABIES ::EWWWWWW::
But going back to the band names for just a second. This seriously makes me want a pet STRIP PARTY MONSTER:
I’m going to try taking more photos like this. Some of these designs are amazing(ly cute and Engrishy) #faceplant #whymonbushowhyyyyyyy <— Japan’s Education Ministry, a (possible) culprit in the rise of overpriced #英会話 schools
What’s your favorite band name from the ones above?