Watering Kiss Mint and Other Japanese Verbal Delicacies

One of my immediate loves of the Japanese culture is the creative use of English on signs and advertising. In the past, I have read and heard the stories of many travelers who encountered ads proclaiming “I Feel Coke” or “An encounter with Tenderness” (cigarettes) and products such as Your Joyful Drink and Clean Life Please soap.

In one of my grad classes, I learned that the Japanese often employ metaphors of gentleness and emotion in their advertising by way of English language phrases to create an atmosphere of community (there’s your cultural rhetoric lesson for the day :) ). In my few days here, I have become a consumer of several uniquely titled products such as Watering Kiss Mint gum, Delightful Mango juice drink (“a friendly taste in every time”) and Water in Lip lip balm.

The other bits of English I have encountered range from the nonsensical to the possibly poetical and can be found on stationery, signage and printed on all sorts of items from mugs to t-shirts. Matt and I were both amused at the sign pictured above that we found on a futon in the Japanese mega-department store Jusco. Since the sign, I’ve taken to collecting examples of English expressions on Japanese products that have especially impressed me with their lyricism or just tickled me with their odd phrases or imperceptible meaning.

The 100 Yen store (think American dollar store or discount mart) was a gold mine of stationery and cards reading things like “The season....in which you’ll play the leading part” (ladybugs crawling on flowers) and “SweetHappy – The delightful expression fits you well” (puppies dancing on a cupcake in a field of rainbow hearts – did I mention cuteness is also a highly valued Japanese cultural trait?)

Perhaps my favorite is a card with a dog on the front that reads “I’m hungry! Give me foods!”. The occasion for sending this card is ambiguous enough, but the real gem is on the back of its cellophane wrapper. It reads: “WARNING: Please confirm postal costs before use – Store and keep out of reach of children to avoid them accidentally drinking this product – Please handle with care. Product is delicate due to its handmade nature.”

Love it!