Unlike Akita, Ibaraki is famous for its unattractive women. Mito city, in particular, is said to have the worst looking girls in Japan, just edging out Sendai and Nagoya in the ugliness rankings.
Given what I endured in Tokyo, the flowers of Ibaraki must be frightening indeed. In six months of reasonably dedicated bar and nightclub-hopping combined with daily classes on campus, I encountered a grand total of three genuinely beautiful Japanese girls, while you could easily count five times that number of gaijin girls in a single night at the Lexington Queen.
(That’s not exactly a fair comparison, since the Queen was a Roundeye model hangout, but still….)
Anyhow, I found these amusing. My Japanese was borderline functional by the time I left, but I’ve forgotten all of it now, barring one or two memorable little phrases. Asita no asa wa, kohee o nomimasen-ka?
I couldn’t resist telling my boss that this was a very polite and respectful way to greet a high-ranking Japanese executive when he flew over for some meetings I’d set up for him. Fortunately, the Hitachi vice-president he was addressing turned out to have a great sense of humor. The guy took us to a ridiculously expensive restaurant which served the most disgusting food I have ever eaten – it was all super deep sea stuff that glowed in the dark and whatnot – and I still remember him grinning slyly as he paid by slipping his business card to the kimono-clad proprietress.
“Japanese-ah credit card, heh heh heh.”