Japan Time

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fresh breath - the language that is understood by all nations.

Tonight I went out for Mexican food with Hiromi and her student Yuriko:


Somehow our conversation turned to Japanese gum. Now, of course, there are plenty of weird Engrish names for gum, one of which Yuriko happened to have with her:

mmmm, could I have a piece of that watering kissmint, please?

And others, true to the Japanese way, are extremely efficient. Like Hiromi's gum, Pos-Ca:


Here are the steps to enjoy a nice piece of Pos-ca (special thanks to Hiromi for the demonstration):


1. Take out your Pos-Ca package and open it.

2. Insert a piece of Pos-Ca gum into your mouth. Enjoy.

3. When you are finished chewing, take out one of the slips of paper found in your Pos-Ca package.

4. Put your used piece of gum onto the piece of paper.

5. Wrap it up.


6. Insert the wrapped used gum into the trash pocket conveniently located on the back of your Pos-Ca package. Go about your business with the satisfaction of knowing that you don't have to search to find a place to throw away your used gum.


But even though Japanese gum has many creative names and is oh-so-efficient, I still prefer good old American Trident:

Good thing I brought a stock pile of it with me from the States.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's how we exchange our cultural differences on our Wednesday nights (in case your friends and family back home wonder). Completely knackered but sober at the little Mexcican bar while the only owner of the place is out for a delivery around midnight...

Brianna said...

It's true.

(P.S. - American friends and family: "knackered" means "tired" in British English - who knew?)

Kori said...

Watering Kiss Mint??? Hahahahahahaha, that sounds delicious!

Misty said...

I mean I am not mad about the Japanese way of chewing gum. It actually makes me wish that the states would have gum like that too! It makes so much more sense they cover all the steps for you, chewing the gum, then getting rid of it! I wonder if we had that gum here, if it would cut back on the amount of gum under desks, on the ground, on bed stands...you know all the usual places haha. Well anyways sounds like things are going well! I miss ya!