Another Japanese mystery has been solved for me ! I have often wondered why people in Tokyo walk up an escalator on the right side while people in Osaka walk up an escalator on the left side...Here is the explanation that I found in the Dutch photographer Guus Rijven's delightful book (TOKAIDO MAKE-OVER) :"These customs can be traced back to the original residents. Merchants, who predominantly lived in the Kansai (Osaka ), would protect their wares from thieves in this way when climbinga steep hill or going upstairs. The many samurai in Edo, in contrast, kept to the left to draw their swords quickly and effectively, thereby preventing anyone approaching them from touching their sword, which was considered an insult.

I have a student who has an uncanny ability to come up with the most interesting mistakes. Now , do not get me wrong. His English is extremely good. He did a year of post graduate school work at Cambridge ! The gods know his English is way better than my Japanese ! However, when he makes a mistake, it is ...well ...memorable. For example , in under 90 minutes he managed to make 3 really sensational mistakes today.First, he was describing a bicycle as " having two rings ". (instead ...I strongly suspect ...of having two wheels . After that he went on to say that when he was an elementary school student he often ate giraffe meat in his school's cafeteria . He should have said whale meat instead of giraffe meat. Without a doubt he saved his best mistake for last. He was talking about the Japanese Congress, the Diet . He was also talking about a political party, the Komei Party, that he seems not to like very much. He should have said , " The Komei Party has only a few seats in the Diet. " Instead he came out with this classic, " The Komei Party has only a few shits in the Diet. " Needless to say, I immediately burst out laughing . After I explained to my student what he had said he found it quite funny too. ( Although not to the extent that I did. In the last part of the lesson I sometimes burst out laughing , often at the most inappropriate times, when I recalled what he had said.) He had a perfect comeback to this impeccable gaffe. He said in a sensational British accent, "I stand by what I said. The Komai Party has a few shits in the Diet . "

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