Engrish

Engrish, or the mistakes in English on advertising or on products, can be found all throughout Japan, from T-shirts to backpacks, and music to Christmas cards.

It is curious that English is so popular and so prevalently incorrect in Japan. There are of course, many Japanese who speak perfect English, but the majority are not fluent for sure. Thus, the accuracy of the English found on products is not so important. As kanji is cool to westerners, English is very hip in Japan.

As an English teacher I hear it all day, and sometimes even slip into broken English or Engrish when I teach to make the language easier to understand. In the best of cases, sentences are entirely understandable, but word choice is just a little off and possibly hilarious. This has been evidenced by one student who told me his business was Pachinko - a sort of Japanese gambling game almost like a slot machine but with balls (needless to say, I have not yet tried the mysterious machine). I interpreted his sentense to imply that he was a professional gambler, but later discovered he actually managed a Pachinko parlour.


The best Engrish is usually found on T-shirts.
This shirt was sized for a little girl, yet has the most depressing message for children I've ever seen. Poor lonely giraffe. There are also some pretty outrageous misspellings on the shirt.

One of the best things about living in another country for so long however, is the ability you gain in interpreting meaning from scrambled English and gestures. In my first few weeks teaching, I was constantly at a loss for what my students were trying to tell me, but now I almost know what they are trying to say before they do. It is good to know I will be a master of both charades and taboo. Challenge me if you dare!