A man sleeping his day away beside a river in Kyoto. Along the river you could see many people enjoying their afternoon. Some were fishing, others
chatting. As for this person he was close to some homeless shelters so is this person homeless or just some who was so tired he just fell asleep right here. I didn't watch him long enough to find out, but it got me thinking about Japan's homeless population. Professor
Fedorowicz mention some
statistics and it seems to be a major problem. But like homelessness in most cultures it is looked down upon and considered the fault of the person. This
article explains about "
internet cafe refugees." What strikes me is this quote from the article and by a former homeless man "Those cafe sleepers are not the ones the government should be throwing tons of money on." Which I agree with. The homeless on the street are ignored or shooed away much like the man in the picture. I hope the government will try and help the street people as well.
A sign that commands readers to "Feel Wood." English text can be found all over Japan, but
alot of it is considered
engrish. The word "
engrish" itself is
engrish, capitalizing on how the "r" and "l" sounds are hard to pronounce for the Japanese. I see signs like these almost every day. I once saw a sign the proudly proclaimed that it had "Everyday high prices." Why would anyone want to tell people they have the highest price? I find it interesting that these exist. Every Japanese student must take about 6 years of
english. With people who have learned/learning
english why is that no one notices the grammar and spelling problem? Or perhaps it just popular to throw in
english much like
Kanji tattoos are extremely popular, because it looks cool. Or maybe it all just a huge joke that is laughing at the
english language? Who knows?
A man sleeping his day away beside a river in Kyoto. Along the river you could see many people enjoying their afternoon. Some were fishing, others chatting. As for this person he was close to some homeless shelters so is this person homeless or just some who was so tired he just fell asleep right here. I didn't watch him long enough to find out, but it got me thinking about Japan's homeless population. Professor Fedorowicz mention some statistics and it seems to be a major problem. But like homelessness in most cultures it is looked down upon and considered the fault of the person. This article explains about "internet cafe refugees." What strikes me is this quote from the article and by a former homeless man "Those cafe sleepers are not the ones the government should be throwing tons of money on." Which I agree with. The homeless on the street are ignored or shooed away much like the man in the picture. I hope the government will try and help the street people as well.
A sign that commands readers to "Feel Wood." English text can be found all over Japan, but alot of it is considered engrish. The word "engrish" itself is engrish, capitalizing on how the "r" and "l" sounds are hard to pronounce for the Japanese. I see signs like these almost every day. I once saw a sign the proudly proclaimed that it had "Everyday high prices." Why would anyone want to tell people they have the highest price? I find it interesting that these exist. Every Japanese student must take about 6 years of english. With people who have learned/learning english why is that no one notices the grammar and spelling problem? Or perhaps it just popular to throw in english much like Kanji tattoos are extremely popular, because it looks cool. Or maybe it all just a huge joke that is laughing at the english language? Who knows?
1 comment:
Epidemiological Studies on Bartonella quintana Infections among Homeless People in Tokyo, Japan? Where did you find this article? Is this the best source for stats on the homeless in Japan?
Do you know about The Big Issue?
Let's not hold our breath waiting for the J-government to do anything, other than to kick more homeless people out of parks when a new international convention comes to town...
Engrish stuff is always fun. Why do you capitalize kanji but not English?
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