I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the Land of the Rising Sun, working there as well as just hanging around. I’m not a big fan of cities but I do love Tokyo, and I’m about a third of the way towards my self-anointed title of Tokyo Ramen King, which I will achieve upon completion of my goal to eat a ramen bowl in each of Tokyo’s 23 wards.
Here’s the thing, though: Whenever I think I’ve got Japanese people and Japanese culture pretty well sussed out, something comes along and throws me for a loop. One such example was when I learned something about the Japanese word “Wakarimashita,” which when said in normal, uninflected Japanese, means “I understand.” But when a slight glottal stop is added after “Wa” and before “karimashita” it carries the implication, “I understand what you’re saying, but I think you’re full of crap.”
So, as you might imagine, I wasn’t terribly surprised to…
