Hi!
Yesterday, I remembered a Japanese skit I saw nearly two decades ago.
It took some time to track it down, but I eventually found it on YouTube, where it had been uploaded 16 years ago. The quality reflects its age, but it's still just as funny. I thought I'd share it here.
The skit plays on cultural differences and stereotypes in a lighthearted way, focusing on how some Japanese customs can seem strange to outsiders. In it, there are two Japanese people, a man and a woman, sitting in a restaurant, discussing a recent trip to Australia, where the man describes a series of pranks they pulled on "gullible foreigners." The following is a transcript of their conversation:
Man: "I just got back from Australia, you should see what they are getting away with at our restaurants down there!"
Woman: "Huh?"
"We serve this fish", says the man, pointing at his dish, "raw!"
"WHAT? Really?"
"Really!", he continues "and we tell them it's a 'Japanese delicacy'!"
"And they believe you?" asks the woman.
"Yeah, they're nuts... and that's not all. When they get to the restaurant, we make them take their shoes off... At the end of the day, when their feet are really smelly."
"Ew, gross!" says the girl pinching her nose.
"Unbelievable!" says the man in English, he continues: "Then we make them sit on the floor..."
"The floor?"
"Yeah, we say it's 'traditional'... Then we get rid of their cutlery, and make them eat with two little sticks."
"Little sticks?"
"Yeah!"
"But how?"
"Both in one hand", explains the man.
"That sucks so bad!"
"Hang on, I haven't finished..." says the man, "sometimes we get a chef who does a piss weak juggling act to cook at their table, splattering them with hot oil!"
"Surely you are kidding!"
"No no – it goes all over them" he continues, "but here's the best bit: We've named the food after Japanese swear words", long pause, "Teppanyaki"... "Sushi"... "it's true... 'Tempura'."
"You can't say that!" sighs the woman embarrassedly, "that's obscene!"
"There's more..."
"Noo!"
"Yakitori"
The woman exclaims loudly, horrified.
"But here's my favourite bit: At the end of the night, when they're really pissed, we make them stand up in front of everyone, and to a crappy backing tape, they have to sing songs by Barry Manilow."
"Copacabana..." sings the woman, waving her hands as if dancing... "Let's have a toast to your global practical joke! What a bunch of Sushis!"
Here's the video:
