In Pretty Good Number One, in the chapter Just an American Girl Eating Tokyo Sweets, I talk about sitting in a park eating soy milk ice cream:
Outside a public park one day, a cafe stand did a brisk business selling iced coffee and tea and cones of soy milk (tÅnyu) soft cream. My friend Akira shared a bite with me, and as the smooth, earthy stuff melted on my tongue, I thought about the ignominious fate of soy milk in America.
What I didn’t mention, because I couldn’t figure out how it fit into the book, is that this was also the site of my most absurd linguistic mishap of the whole trip.
We were in KichijÅji, a lovely neighborhood in western Tokyo. It was a Sunday, and our friends Akira and Emi joined us for the day, and we strolled through KichijÅji and nearby Inokashira Park. When we were ready to stop off and have a drink, Akira tried to find a cafe that could accommodate five people. He stepped into a several places in succession, and each time he came out and said, “Muzukashii.” It means “difficult,” but it is really the Japanese way of saying, “Not a chance.”
Eventually we came across a small grassy square and got our drinks and soy milk soft serve, and while Akira and Iris played, Emi and I talked about movies. She said her favorite movie was Fight Club. I thought, hey, this is my chance to say something funny in Japanese. So I stood tall and said:
ファイトクラブを話ã—ã¦ã¯ã„ã‘ã¾ã›ã‚“ï¼
Emi recoiled. Of course, I was trying to say, “The first rule of fight club is, don’t talk about fight club.” What came out was more like, “Talking about the movie Fight Club is prohibited!”
I could not figure out how to weasel out of this until finally Akira came over and walked me through it. “In the movie…Brad Pitt said…”
Lesson learned: the first rule of Japan is, don’t try to talk about Fight Club.
I’m wondering when the book will be available “in print.” I’ve downloaded the ebook for myself but was hoping to take a print copy with me to Tokyo in May. Our son lives there (for the time being) and has a new baby. It would make a fun gift. I enjoyed “Hungry Monkey.”
Hello, Carola. I don’t have any current plans to make the book available in paper. Sorry!
That is very funny! I can just imagine the confused expressions…
How funny! I love Fight Club.
Love it! Thanks for the belly laugh.