Saturday, February 12, 2005

Priceless

Today I met a friend for lunch and then we went to a big new(ish) shopping mall in Osaka so she could see an interior design place I'd told her about (she has a new(ish) apartment). She found a wonderful bench carved in a rhinoceros shape, perfect for sitting on while you tie your shoes, that might fit her genkan, but she wasn't sure of the measurements so didn't buy it. (Yet.) After that we wandered around checking out the shops, and in the bath goods section of one shop I picked up a jar of cream. The label said:

Fermented Soybean
Forskin Essence


For a moment I didn't feel very well. Then I went to find my friend. "You have to see this," I said.

Cost of the cream: ¥1050
My friend's expression when she read the label: PRICELESS.

(Neither of us bought it.)

5 comments:

Erin M said...

omg that is awesome! I would have bought it to send to Jay Leno - he always has products with label screw ups - too funny!!

Greg said...

Is it as much of a culture shock living in Japan as I've heard it is?

Unknown said...

haha, that's so funny!

Badaunt said...

Re culture shock: Depends on the person. For me, the worst time started about four months after getting here. It lasted about 6 months, during which I hated everything about Japan. Then I found my balance again. But I've met people who have been here two years or more and are still suffering the worst kind of culture shock.

One thing that can make it worse is if you expect to assimilate, or to 'pick up' the language. Neither of these things happen. You have to study the language to learn it, and you will always be an outsider.

Anonymous said...

ROTFL! This made me think of the case in the O.T. where foreskins were given as a dowry (2 SAMUEL 3:14). Well, perhaps these creative uses of something that normally gets tossed would qualify as "recycling"? :)