The story below is originally published on Mainichi Daily News by Mainichi Shinbun (http://mdn.mainichi.jp). |
They admitted inventing its kinky features, or rather deliberately mistranslating them from the original gossip magazine. |
In fact, this is far from the general Japanese' behavior or sense of worth. |
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Murphy's Law of Japan 1994,03,13
ASCII Publishing By Mark Schreiber
Readers are no doubt acquainted with Murphy's Law, which states, "Shippai suru kanousei no aru mono wa, shippai suru"(If anything can possibly go wrong it will.)
But since last July, things have been going anything but wrong for ASCII, the Shibuya-based publisher of computer books and software.
That's when it marketed a Japanese translation of the original English work by Arthur C. Bloch.
The book has already sold over a million copies.
On Feb. 28, ASCII launched sale of a sequel entitled Zoku:Maafi no Housoku.
The 235-page work (price: 1,200 yen) is made up exclusively of wacky laws, theorems, axioms and postulates contributed by Japanese enthusiasts of the famous law who are determined to show that things can go every bit as wrong here as they do in the United States.
While it remains to be seen if this work will eventually be translated into English and start contributing to Japan's foreign trade deficit, what is certain is that Japan is providing to be an apt pupil of the science of Murphology.
Read on, and discover the many ways for things to go wrong in Japan.
Morishita's Law of New Car Ownership:
You always spill the juice on a new car's seat immediately after peeling off the protective vinyl cover.
Karasawa's Law of Minimum Wages:
The compensation for any job posted"650-900yen an hour" is 650 yen.
Okada's Law of Teamwork:
The person who emphasizes 'O-tagai sama'(for our mutual benefit) is always defending a self-serving position.
Yamaguchi's Law of Viewer Complaints:
Other Astute Observations
Real estate agent flyers:
A rental property that claims to be a "10-minute walk from the station" is really 20 minutes away:
"four-year-old buildings"are twice that age;
and "great view" means you have to climb a steep hill to get there.
Elevators:
If one enters a building served by only one single elevator and happens to be in a great hurry, or if is involved, a climb of more than three flights of steps, the elevator at that particular moment will always be undergoing its periodic inspection.
Dogs:
The degree of annoyance of a dog's bark is inversely proportional to its body weight.
Computers:
The software installation always fails on the 14th floppy disk.
Bargain Sales:
1. The goods on sale are always sold out.
2. The items being offered at half price are items made to be sold at half price.
3. Price rebates offered due to appreciation of the yen have nothing to do with imports.
4. So-called "last chance bargain" opportunities never end.
5. If a store advises that "some of the items offered on sale might be of a different color or pattern," the only ones you see at the sale will be ghastly.(MS)