Well,
I finally ran out of condoms after 3 months... so I had to get some
more today. I've never been so confused...
There's
maybe 10 brands. Michiko London (apparently she's some fashion designer?),
Big Boy ("Size L" sayeth the box, but then the artwork is
just a picture of some guy's nose... ew), Benneton (what the hell
to THEY know about condoms?) and a few other brands. All of them came
in three variations: 1000, 1500, and 3000.
The
"1000-code" ones sold for around Y1000, the 1500-code ones
for Y1500 or so, and the 3000-code ones were Y3000-ish. Each came
with the same number of condoms inside (usually 12, sometimes only
10). So that price difference right off the bat was confusing.
The
backs of each package, conveniently, contained the same information
tables (kind of like how the "Nutrition Facts" label on
U.S. foods has been standardized) but that info was no help. I started
on the assumption that the cheaper ones maybe weren't lubricated or
spermicidal (Spermicidal Tendencies anyone?) but that doesn't really
account for the 300% price difference, unless the 3000-code ones use
state-of-the-art nanotechnology to actually shoot each individual
sperm with tiny little guns...
As
you probably have already guessed, I just got the cheap ones and next
time, I'll send Kayo to go choose! I don't need this kind of pressure!
(Although, we've been married five years, so it's kinda time for kiddies
anyway... oh wait, but then I won't be able to go carousing at clubs
all night... boo!)
Onto
other things...
Flipping
Bird Lowers Damages Suit
A Tokyo
District court judge on Friday said "flipping the bird"
is an insult in Japan and reduced the compensation in a damages
suit filed by a man who was attacked after making the gesture.
According
to the ruling, the male vic, a resident of Yokohama, sparked a quarrel
with a group of other men over seating space at a bar in Tokyo's
Roppongi entertainment district on Dec. 19, 1998.
The
dispute developed into a physical fight after the man raised his
middle finger. In the ensuing fight, he suffered eye and head injuries
that required 10 days of hospitalization the ruling said.
In the
ruling, Judge Shu Shibata said, "The sign of raising the middle
finger... is recognized in Japan as an act signifying insult or
provocation, although it is not as common as in the U.S."
The
judge thus recognized that the man was partially responsible for
escalating the quarrel into a fight and reduced the amount of damages
by 20% to Y2.2 million.
So,
there you have it, official legalish confirmosity that Japanese people
do know what the middle finger means... so all those girls at Narciss
doing it to their favorite visual key bands, and the bands doing it
to their fans, are assumably aware of the original interpretation
of the gesture...
Also,
the U.S. Embassy here in Tokyo put out a warning to all U.S. citizens
to beware of terrorist attacks, mainly likely to be targeted at U.S.
military personnel (there are 50,000 military peeps and 40,000 American
civilians living in Japan).
But the warning included a footnote about Kabukicho and other entertainment
districts in Tokyo frequented by servicemen.
But
that's okay, the last two nights in a row I've turned on the TV and
seen Pierrot on, so that's what I'll do the rest of the weekend...
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