Okay, this page shows what the majority of Japanese television is like (which is one of the reasons I rarely switch the channel from my satellite Japanese movies), as well as what the majority of modern Japanese cuisine is like (which is why I am slowly starving to death). The captions from picture--yes, for some odd reason, Japan is one of the few countries on Earth that has decided to caption it's own language*-- roughly translates to "Us guys have gone to the Mecca of mayonnaise, the mayonnaise palace!" Yes, they are drinking mayonnaise straight from the container in the pic as well; it comes in convenient squeeze-tubes like that here.That's right, the only thing the Japanese love more than mayo is watching other people eat mayo on TV. Okay, that's an exaggeration, the Japanese watch their "talento" eat other things too, but they do seem to like watching others eat. We won't even go over how scrutinized my reactions are at meals.
Apparently, a hot word to say these days is maiu, which is umai (superb!) said in a trendy way, and TV shows usually have a person tasting something and saying the latter. I've never seen a Japanese person not have a mouthgasm when eating food on TV.
As you can see on the page, they even have a foreigner in on the fun. I've seen these guys a few times. I call them the bumpkin connoisseurs. Count how many times they say maiu, it's a little redundant, but maybe they were going for a mayonnaise pun.
*:Now that I think back I saw that Thailand was doing it too.
Update: More info about these guys and the term maiu here.
Mayo? Straight? I can't stand it when it is mixed with anything, except tuna. Then it is ok. But man! That stuff is nasty!
ReplyDeleteJapanese mayo is so good tho.
ReplyDeleteHey Koreans and Taiwanese also caption their own language.
That's... Eww... My sister bought a squeeze-tube of cheddar cheese mayo. I didn't try any or ask how it tasted, but she hasn't bought any more. Personally, I like edible foods.
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ReplyDeleteQUOTE: I've never seen a Japanese person not have a mouthgasm when eating food on TV.
ReplyDeleteTRUE: only in japan, do the TV tasters gingerly taste the food, swallow and say OISHII! or MAI-U! like complete fools! as if!
Great post, Claytonian!
Great new word u coined too: MOUTHORGASM. Yes, invented in Japan TV.
Do you ever read Wm. Penn's TV criticism in the Daily Yomiuri? You can learn something from her, too.
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ReplyDeletefolks, it's called humor; this is a lighthearted blog, so chill.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure; It can be looked up in Jim Breen's dictionary (see links)
ReplyDeletemany Japanese show biz people pronounce words backwards with syllables, it's show biz slang in Japan, such as saifu, becomes fusai, and kohi, becomes hiko, and umai becomes mai-oo.....just show biz banter, not real Japanese talk.
ReplyDeletebiru becomes ru-bee. ask around. it's just show biz baCKTALK. ..gangsters do it too. but that's all.