Fun Facts Archive 3

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A story or fact a week sure starts to build up after a while, so I created these archives to make room for some of the newer fun facts on the main page. Also, I created a list of all the different fun facts on this page so you can easily browse though what's available, and then click on the one you wanna learn more about.

Cammy's the best!

Fun Fact archives for July 7 to December 22, 2003

Here's a list of all the weekly Japanese Fun Facts. Just click on the one you wanna read more about, and it'll take to down to it...
Justifying the atomic bombs Japan's newest 'miracle' product! Can you eat 50.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes? Work-a-holic Japan Tube hotels Pronouncing Japanese A businessman's night Japan's new craze Japanese people sleep in the strangest places Japanese money Japan and old age Humility Japanese businesswomen	Japanese gimmick stamps Japanese voices Ramu Soda Halloween in Japan Ginko leaves, hair, and sumo wrestlers Gung Ho Japanese people are clumsy Umeboshi Bob Sapp Pearl Harbor: 62 years, 1 day Japanese cat mystery solved A Christmas urban legend?

\.December 22, 2003 - A Christmas urban legend?

Ever heard the story about the Japanese ad/display showing Santa Claus on a crucifix? Yup, instead of Jesus Christ on the cross, it's Santa! I've met a few people that knew somebody who knew somebody that saw that in Japan.

I kinda think that's an urban legend, but on the other hand, I have seen plenty of instances where Japanese people have horribly mixed things up. I guess I can kinda see it happening because Christmas is (supposed to be) the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and getting him mixed with Santa isn't that much of a stretch for a culture that doesn't know much about either one. Anyhow, I doubt it's true because it's just too funny to be true, but I wouldn't be very surprised if it really did happen!

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Cammy' the best!............

\.December 15, 2003 - Japanese cat mystery solved!

Way back on August 26, 2002, I wrote a Japanese Fun Fact about "The Japanese cat conspiracy". Well, thanks to tronbonne1718, that mystery is solved!

I wondered why I saw so many cats in Japan with crooked stubs for tails. I asked around, but nobody there seemed to notice! I always wanted to know why. Well, they're apparently called "Japanese Bobtails", and they go way back. There are many old stories and paintings about these cats. In feudal Japan cats were believe to have supernatural powers (brought good luck), so only the nobility were allowed to own them. Later, when mice got to be a problem, cats were freed to take care of that. One day a cat was chasing a mouse and it ran by a lantern and caught its tail on fire. The cat freaked out and ran all around the city, starting fires everywhere. Eventually, the city burned down! When the Emperor learned of the incident, he ordered that all cats should have their tails chopped off at birth so this would never happen again. And that's supposedly how the Japanese Bobtail came to be.

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Cammy' the best!............

\.December 8, 2003 - Pearl Harbor: 62 years, 1 day

Yesterday was the 62nd anniversary of Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. About 4 years later, after a lot of brutal fighting, America wiped out 2 Japanese cities with atomic bombs and ended the war. Relationships don't get any worse than that!!

It was a long time ago to you and me, but there are still plenty of people alive who lived through all that. In historic terms it wasn't that long ago. However, even with all that bad blood, the United States and Japan have been strong allies almost since the war ended. Isn't that amazing?

I think it's absolutely fascinating how the two countries put it all aside and made each other better. The bitterest of enemies became the best of friends. It says a lot about the strength and morality of the two countries/cultures. I guess that's why they're two of the most successful nations in the world. A world with two leaders like that can't be that bad off, huh? It's too bad more countries don't follow their lead.

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Cammy' the best!............

\.December 1, 2003 - Bob Sapp

Japan has lots and lots of celebrities, but one of the most interesting to me is Bob Sapp. He's pretty much unknown in the USA, but in Japan he's a superstar.

There's a lot to talk about when it comes to Bob "The Beast" Sapp, so I'll just give you a real quick rundown on who and what he is... He's a 6 foot 3 inch kick-boxer and pro-wrestler who became famous on the K-1/mixed fighting circuit in Japan. He's not only one extremely tough man, but he's got as much personality as anybody you've ever seen. Check out this link to learn a little more about him, and as soon as you go, you'll see one example of his interesting personality. And for an article on the Bob Sapp phenomenon, check out this link.

Anyhow, enjoy learning more about Bob Sapp. I'm sure you'll have fun. In some very strange way, he and Japan go together just perfectly. ^_^

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Cammy' the best!............

\.November 24, 2003 - Umeboshi

I think Japan is infamous for a lot of things, but food may be at the top of the list. I haven't talked about Japanese food in a while, but there's one more thing that you have to be aware (beware!) of... "umeboshi". Umeboshi are basically pickled plums. But they are SO sour/bitter and nasty that only a Japanese person could like it. Japanese people love feeding those things to foreigners because they know we freak out.. Another place you might commonly encounter an umeboshi is inside a rice ball... sometimes they hide 'em in there. Anyhow, I don't really wanna scare you off because you really should try an umeboshi once, but at least you'll have some idea what's coming. Eating an umeboshi without any clue as to what coming could be dangerous!! ^_^

I met some girls camping in Japan, and they had an umeboshi eating contest. I think the winning girl managed to eat 12. Whose idea was it to bring those things along on a camping trip?! Don't they have s'mores in Japan?

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Cammy' the best!............

\.November 17, 2003 - Japanese people are clumsy!

I really think Japanese people might be the most clumsy people on earth. I've seen at least 10 people trip in public! ^_^ I guess if you've ever seen the TV show Most Extreme Elimination Challenge on Spike TV, then you have some idea what I'm talking about. Sure they try to get people to fall and make fools of themselves, but it doesn't take an obstacle course to make everyday people in Japan fall down.

I have no idea why this is... maybe it's just that I happen to have seen a lot of that stuff? Sure the giant platform shoe trend helped, and so does the rush to get from place to place, but I've seen some really odd stuff... a girl falling down stairs, people running into each other, people tripping over air, a lady getting hit by a car (she was OK), people falling asleep and hitting their head, a guy falling asleep while holding a burning candle, and much more. I've seen more clumsiness in my short time in Japan than the rest of my life outside of Japan!

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Cammy' the best!............

\.November 10, 2003 - Gung Ho

Remember back in the1980's when Americans thought the Japanese big business was gonna take us over? It's not a problem now, but people back then really thought it was gonna happen. Anyhow, while all that was going on, there was a great movie called "Gung Ho". It was directed by Ron Howard (Oppie), and stars Michael Keaton (Mr. Mom) and George Wendt (Norm!). It's all about a Japanese car manufacturer coming to a small American town and re-opening an old auto plant. When the Japanese management meets the American worker, all hell breaks loose, and it's really pretty funny. It's all exaggerated, but it's really fun. Check it out if you get the chance...

If you wanna learn some more about it, click here to get started.

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Cammy' the best!............

\.November 3, 2003 - Ginko leaves, hair, and sumo wrestlers

How are ginko leaves, hair, and sumo wrestlers related? Well, all sumo wrestlers attaining a certain rank have the same traditional hair style - long with the ponytail sitting on the top of the head. The people who style their hair take great care to make the tip of the ponytail look like a ginko leaf. I don't know why, but I know that's what it's supposed to look like. Yeah this knowledge is totally useless ^_^, but who knows when this little bit of trivia could come in handy. Anyhow, here's a picture of a ginko leaf to the right. Normally they're green like other leaves, but it's fall now so the color has changed. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good picture of a sumo wrestler's hair, but look for it next time to see a sumo wrestler.
PS - Speaking of sumo wrestlers, Happy Birthday to E. Honda! ^_^
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Cammy' the best!............

\.October 27, 2003 - Halloween in Japan

Well, there is no Halloween in Japan. Japanese people don't like candy very much, but they do love to decorate and dress up, so you'd think that they'd jump right on the Halloween bandwagon. From what I've seen, the only people who do celebrate Halloween in any way are the cosplayers. However, the rest of Japan seems to totally ignore it.

Sure there's no tradition of Halloween in Japan, but they've adopted other Western holidays like Valentine's Day and Christmas. They really go all-out for Christmas... nobody cares about the meaning or the traditions, but they love the look and feel of it, so you'll see Christmas decorations (trees, lights, music, Santas, etc.) everywhere. I really have no idea why Halloween hasn't been adopted yet. Maybe they will someday?

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Cammy' the best!............

\.October 20, 2003 - Ramu soda

If you go to Japan in the summer, you'll probably get to go to some kind of festival. And at that festival, there's a good chance you'll drink some ramu soda. It's a drink served in special glass bottle that has a pinched neck with a glass marble inside. The carbonation of the drink creates pressure that holds the marble up and seals the bottle. To drink the soda, just pop the marble down with your finger.

I don't really know how do describe the taste... my best idea would be to say is tastes like a slightly sweet club soda. It's really an odd taste, but it's pretty good. Normally you could only get that stuff at festivals, but a company called Sangaria has recently started selling ramu soda in cans, and I can even get it here in St. Louis at a special import foods market. Click here to see a picture showing the original ramu soda bottle, and the new canned ramu soda. If you ever get the chance, definitely try it out.

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Cammy' the best!............

\.October 13, 2003 - Japanese voices

One thing that I think is really strange about Japanese people is that they actually change their voices in different situations. For instance, girls have what I call a "public speaking voice". When a girl talks on the phone (to somebody she doesn't know), to a group of people, or on some kind of loudspeaker, she uses a different voice. I really noticed that when I was working in Japan and the girl I was talking to in the office answered the phone and suddenly used a totally different voice. I started paying attention, and she did it every time... and so did all the other girls.

Guys kinda do the same "public speaking voice" thing too, but it's not as obvious. The one time guys really change their voice is when they get mad and/or wanna talk tough. They change their voice to sound mean. They don't just get louder, they actually get more gruff. I think it's all quite funny because we don't do anything like that over here. Even if you don't understand Japanese, you should be able to notice it the next time you watch an anime or something like that... please look for it.

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Cammy' the best!............

\.October 6, 2003 - Japanese gimmick postage stamps

I just read a little news blurb on the web about some new technology in Japan that allows you to customize the picture on your postage stamp. That's so typical of Japan! Like I've said SO many times before... "Japanese people love gimmicks!" This is another good example. It's amazing how far out of the way they go to do silly little things for people. It's not really practical, but it's just a stupid little bit of fun. I'll have to have my friend send me some Cammy stamps! ^_^

BTW - I searched for more on the subject, but unfortunately I didn't find anything else online.

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Cammy' the best!............

\.September 29, 2003 - Japanese Businesswomen

I've probably mentioned before that I used to work for Mitsubishi in Tokyo, and in all my time there, I never ever met a Japanese businesswoman! I did business with hundreds of people from all kinds of companies, and not one of them was a woman.

Girls in Japan go through college and get educated just like guys, but when they get into the business world, they all seem to become secretaries. That's the way things are there, and as far as I can tell, it's not a problem for anyone. I got the impression that women don't want to do the crap that the men do ^_^. Plus, it's practical because almost every young woman is gonna wanna have kids, and that's gonna conflict with work (and work is always #1 in Japan!). So although it may have been a bit strange for me, it seems to be good for them. Roles have become a bad thing over here, but having seen both sides of things, things work better their way, and people seem to be happier.

PS - if you go to Japanese cosplay websites, you might notice that a lot of the girls who aren't students put down "OL" under "Job" in their profiles. "OL" stands for "Office Lady"... a.k.a. secretary. I wonder how many boring old businessmen know that their simple secretaries dress up like Cammy on the weekend?! ^_^

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Cammy' the best!............

\.September 22, 2003 - Humility

Besides all the comics, games, toys, cosplay, curry rice, and other cool things in Japan, I think the biggest reason why I love it there so much comes down to the people. Japanese people are generally very humble, and that goes a long way towards making them so enjoyable to be around.

Japanese people never complain about anything... because they don't consider their problems worth bothering everybody around them. Japanese people are always conscious of the trouble others go through on their behalf... Japanese people usually apologize instead of saying "Thank you". Japanese people work very hard to do what's 'right' (expected)... instead of what they want to do or think is best.

Those are just a few typical examples of how Japanese people are humble. I sometimes think they're a bit too humble, but generally speaking their society is much better off for it. I really think we Westerners have lost too much of the humility in our culture...

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Cammy' the best!............

\.September 15, 2003 - Japan and old age

Another thing Japan is famous for is how long its people live. There are over 20,000 Japanese people over the age of 100! And that's out of a population of about 1/2 to 2/3 of America's 280 million.

The oldest lady in the world is 115, and she says that the 'secret' to her old age is sleeping 2 days straight, and then staying awake 2 days straight. I'm thinking that it has a lot more to do with their diet... fish, rice, vegetables, etc. And I think working hard (staying active) also plays a big role.

One of the most obvious things about old people in Japan is that they're MUCH smaller than the new generation. I think that has to do with the diet too. Kids nowadays eat much more high calorie, high fat, and high protein foods, and that's helped them grow. However, I doubt that it'll allow them to live as long.

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Cammy' the best!

\.September 10, 2003 - Japanese money

Okay, this is a really lame fun fact, but it's practical information that everybody should know. Anyhow, the Japanese currency is the Yen. Today 117 yen equals 1 US dollar, and that's kinda low. Bills come in 10,000, 5,000, and 1,000 denominations, and coins come in 500, 100, 50, 10, 5, and 1 pieces.

Just to put things in perspective, here's what some common things in Japan cost... Arcadia magazine is 690 yen, a drink from a vending machine is 120 yen, and an arcade game is either 100 or 50 yen. As you know, some things in Japan are outrageously expensive, but most of it is more or less about the same as in N. America or Europe.

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Cammy' the best!

\.September 1, 2003 - Japanese people sleep in the strangest places

With the way Japanese people work & study, they kinda have to get sleep wherever they can find it. Plus, there's usually a lotta time spent waiting around (on the subway, in taxis, etc.), so there's not much else to do.

One of the places I always saw Japanese people sleeping was of course on the subway. They'd sometimes sleep while standing up in the crowd! And if they were lucky enough to get a seat, they always slept. Sleeping in public like that is really odd to me, but what's even more strange is how they managed to fall asleep in that environment! Isn't that uncomfortable?! Another amazing thing about it all was that they seem to have an alarm clock built into their bodies that tells them when to wake up and get off the train... somehow, they always know. I'd watch sleeping people to see if they'd wake up a freak out when they realized they'd missed their stop, but that only happened once. Usually, they woke up and got off at the next stop. How do they know?

I also noticed that Japanese people would fall asleep in business meetings, seminars, and other 'events' like that, and nobody seemed to care. There was one girl I worked with (the one from the July 1 & 8, 2002 stories ^_^) who'd ALWAYS fall asleep. She even fell asleep in a lecture some guy was giving to the just the two of us! That wouldn't fly at all in the US, but in Japan, it kinda seems okay.

Late at night/early in the morning, you'd see a lot of business men 'sleeping' on public benches. But they weren't really sleeping... they were passed out from too much beer and whisky!

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Cammy' the best!

\.August 25, 2003 - Japan's new craze

Japan is famous for strange social crazes, and I think that's one of the things that we all love about it... right? They really go all-out with things and have a fun time about it. Well, the newest phenomenon sweeping Japan has to do with those pitiful little Mexican rat-dogs... the Chihuahua. Here's a news story all about: "Japan goes barking mad over Chihuahua".

PS - there are no Taco Bells in Japan, and I've always wondered why. Well, if those guys are smart, now would be the PERFECT time to launch the franchise with the original Chihuahua spokesdog... the "Yo quiero Taco Bell" dog.

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Cammy' the best!

\.August 18, 2003 - A business man's night

I used to work for Mitsubishi in Tokyo, and almost every night we'd go out with customers. We'd eat, drink Kirin beer and whiskey, and then go sing karaoke. I liked eating, but I coulda done without the rest of that. But that's the life of a Japanese businessman. If we'd stay out after the trains stopped running, we'd have to take a taxi home. For me, that was usually about a 1 hour ride that cost $180! Our team could almost blow $1000 a night on taxi rides for everybody to get home!! And now you know why Japanese business men have to work SO hard... they've gotta earn enough money to pay for all that stuff! It's an awful cycle that they're trapped in, but they told me it's not as bad as it used to be. I wonder what that means...?

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Cammy' the best!

\.August 11, 2003 - Pronouncing Japanese

SO many people mispronounce two of Japan's most important words... Tokyo and Kyoto. You don't say To-ki-o or Ki-yo-to. There are only 2 syllables, so you say To-kyo and Kyo-to. Pronounce "to" like "toh" or the English word "toe". "Kyo" is pronounced pretty much just like it looks if you try to say it phonetically.

Once you learn a few basics, Japanese is actually very easy to pronounce. They don't really have any sounds that we don't have in English. The only thing that makes it difficult is that there are sometimes so many choppy-sounding syllables that it gets you tongue-tied.

And by the way, not like I give a damn, but Ryu is not pronounced "Ri-yu" (with a long "i")... it's just one syllable.

August 18, 2003 update - My favorite Japanese band, Puffy, released an English version of one of their songs in which they pronounce Tokyo "To-ki-yo"! D'oh! But it was written by an American, so... ^_^

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Cammy' the best!

\.August 4, 2003 - Tube Hotels

One of the most common questions people ask me about Japan is "Have you ever stayed in one of those Japanese 'tube' hotel things?". And the answer is "No". First of all, I'm 6 feet 7 inches tall (2 meters), so I would never fit in anything like that, and 2nd of all, I've never actually seen a hotel with those tube beds. I've stayed in probably a dozen different hotels all across Japan, and I've never seen one of those. I do know they exist, but I don't think they're very common at all. It's probably a story that's much more common than the actual thing itself.

BTW, the tubes are supposed to be just a bed-in-a-wall type thing. So instead of paying for an entire room with a TV, desk, closet, and bathroom, you just get a tube with a bed in it. And I guess there's a communal bathroom somewhere nearby. Strange idea, huh? But, that's how the Japanese are! ^_^

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Cammy' the best!

\.July 28, 2003 - Work-a-holic Japan

Everybody knows about the Japanese peoples' reputation for working hard. Well, I've got a bunch of stories about that, and here's one example...

My best friend in Japan is a 5th grade school teacher, and he works from about 7 am until about 8 pm. He also spends a lot of time working on the weekends and at home. Summer break is coming soon, and for Japanese kids, it's 1 month off... but for my friend, it's only 4 days! On top of all the normal teacher duties, he had to take the kids on a camping trip. And before that, he had to visit the homes of every one of his kids. As if all that weren't bad enough, he constantly gets pestered by his superiors about what to wear, where to live, etc. More or less, that's how things are in Japan... pretty much everybody goes through it. For them, it's "normal".

What, did you think Japan was all comics, games, anime, cosplay, and cute girls? Yeah, Japan is a great place, but it's definitely got its ugly side too. I've lived and worked in Japan 3 times, so I know how it can be. I'll tell you about some of my stories some other day...

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Cammy' the best!

\.July 21, 2003 - Can you eat 50.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes?

For the last 86 years, Coney Island has hosted the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. And for the 3rd year in a row, a 130 pound (59 kilos) Japanese guy named Takeru Kobayahi is the champ!

In 2002, he ate 50.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes!! Hot dogs with buns. How this is humanly possible, I don't know. His technique is to soak the buns in water, which makes 'em a bit more compact, but I still don't understand it. He's routinely eating twice as much or more than guys weighing over 400 pounds. The American record is about 32 hot dogs in 12 minutes. This year, he 'only' managed to put away about 40, but nobody else was even close.

Anyhow, if you haven't heard of Takeru Kobayahi, go do some searches and learn more about him. Although he's got one of the most ridiculous 'talents' in the world, he's an amazing guy!

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Cammy' the best!

\.July 14, 2003 - Japan's newest 'miracle' product!

I've already written a few fun facts about the crazy things Japanese invent, and now I've got another product to add to the list. The newest gimmick is called "Air Stockings" and it's basically silk stockings in a can! Yes, now the ladies of Japan can simply 'paint' on their stockings. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to figure out how to make fishnet stockings in a can >_<. Anyhow, for more details about this "amazing" new breakthrough in ladies fashion, check out this article from the BBC.

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Cammy' the best!

\.July 7, 2003 - Justifying the atomic bombs

Wow, it's hard to justify killing 200-250,000 people, but here's the 'logic' behind that...

By December 1945, it was obvious that Japan would lose the war, but they showed absolutely no signs of surrender. Therefore, America would be forced to mount a invasion of Japan itself, and that would have been an absolute disaster! Official estimates figured that up to 500,000 American lives would be lost in the process. Of course the Japanese would lose even more lives than that. Only by absolutely dominating the Japanese would the Americans truly win the war... one way to do that was to invade and fight for every inch of Japan, and the other was to use our top-secret weapon.

In the end, wiping out a city (Hiroshima) and killing over 100,000 seemed like the best idea. But as we know, 3 days after the first atomic bomb was dropped, Japan STILL refused to surrender, so America was forced to do the same thing to Nagasaki. Only then did the stubborn Japanese leadership finally give up.

War is crazy, and what's 'good' in war is never ever good in normal life. Simply put, 200-250,000 Japanese people and 2 cities were sacrificed to save even more death and destruction. It wasn't a good thing that was done, but it was better than the alternative. And in the end, I'm proud to say that America spent tons of money and time building Japan back up (when they really didn't have to). With America's help, Japan turned itself around and within about 20 years became more prosperous than ever! As horrible as that time of history was, it ended up bringing about great things.

Anyhow, that's the VERY brief reasoning behind it all. There's a lot more to it, but I can't get into that here. Maybe someday I'll write a rant and give a much more thorough explanation. Or maybe you could go out and do some research of your own ^_^

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For other fun facts, check out:
Fun Facts Archives #1 (June - December 2002)
Fun Facts Archives #2 (January - June 2003)
Fun Facts Archives #4 (January - June 2004)
Fun Facts Archives #5 (July - December 2004)
Fun Facts Archives #6 (January - June 2005)
Fun Facts Archives #7 (July - December 2005)