Funny in Japan

   I asked a Japanese friend of mine how Japanese people react to sarcasm the other day.

   "Well, they'd probably take you seriously at first. And once they realized you were being sarcastic, they'd probably label you as a cynical person."

   If you search for the word 皮肉(hiniku) in the dictionary, you'll get the following: "cynicism; sarcasm; irony; satire." I'm not sure what the history of the word is, but 皮 is the kanji for skin or hide, and 肉 is the kanji for meat. It's a tough word.

   Where I'm from, sarcasm is a big part of your average conversation. If it's raining outside and everyone feels miserable, you'll turn to the person next to you and say, "Great weather today, huh?" and without missing a beat, they'll agree.

   There's a scene in Watership Down when Hazel and the other rabbits are staying in a new warren, and one of their hosts laughs at something Hazel says. Hazel and his friends have never seen a rabbit laugh. They run away in fear.
   I think if I started being sarcastic in Japan, people might run away.

 
   In other news, I took a trip recently. It was awesome. Here are some photos. 

   The river is awesome. People hang out there at all hours. You can find live music there or performance artists like fire throwers. Since drinking in public is legal, you can even have a beer there in the evening. And ducks live in it.

   A view of the city from the park. 

   The entrance to a tiny restaurant in the park. 
 

   Just because. 

   This awesome creek/canal runs parallel to the river. There are a bunch of restuarant, bars, and fancy-looking apartments next to it.  I saw some ducks hanging out in it, too.

   A little alley lined with expensive restaurants. 

   The creek again. 

   The river at night. There's a little stone path that crosses the river. Some of the stones are in the shape of turtles. I walked across, pausing in the middle to sit on a turtle for a little bit.