It all started last summer in a yakitori shop in Kyushu. I went into the bathroom and the toilet slippers greeted me with a chirpy English phrase written on them: "My life, my toilet!" This humored me greatly at the time. However, I have learned my lesson. I will not laugh next time.
There are over 8 million gods in Japan, and one of them, I found out, is the god of Japanese English. If you laugh at him, he turns you into the very words you are laughing at. I know this is true because it happened to me.
A few months later, a strong stench wafted through my living room window. This usually means it is toilet cleaning day on the island, since most island houses don't have flush toilets. After double checking my calendar, I realized it was not toilet cleaning day. Yet every now and then this nasty breeze would infiltrate my living room. I looked out the window -- no sign of the cheery toilet men in jumpsuits, just an "o-baa-chan" wheeling her cart past my window on her way to the fishermen's co-op. Nothing unusual about that. But, where was the smell coming from?
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