Signs in China and Japan

Hungry for a little seafood? How about a little crab? Just head for this Japanese storefront that sells seafood...you'll recognize it right away because its got grandma's head - on the body of a crab. I thought that this was really bizarre at first, which is why I took the picture. But the I gave it some more thought, and realized its not so different from similar American icons. Consider Mayor McCheese....he's got the body of a man and a delicious head, and we don't even think twice
















Right in the heart of Kyoto we came across a cemetery. Japanese cemeteries are very different than traditional American ones. Very densely packed, and marked with little granite spires for each family. And fortunately, they sell them right outside the entrance, so you don't have to haul it far. They also have signs outside the entrance reminding families to keep their grave markers clean and straight. You can see from the sign, that a clean gravestone is a happy gravestone

In the Shanghai airport there was a gorgeous fountain - a huge stone wall with water running down its face into a large pool. Although I was dying for a little dabble, I was glad I read the sign first
Even the Great Leap Forward started with a few small steps. This sign below was posted above the urinals in a Buddhist temple compound in Shanghai. I felt a little self conscious whipping out the camera while standing there in the bathroom, lest somebody think I was some kind of a weirdo, but it was too funny to pass up.
Unfortunately, China could use a whole lot more of these signs. For some reason every Chinese man considers himself a volunteer fireman and stands way too far back, with the predictable results. At the Intel factory in Pudong I witnessed a similar sign that actually specified a 30cm dimension between the urinator and his target.
Check out Mini-Mini - fearless crusader of the Japanese convenience store. Not sure what his powers are, but they probably include speeds faster than a bullet train, and the ability to leap tall displays of kippered octopus in a single bound.


I've never seen a lot of dogs when I've been in Asia...in China, I just chalked this up to the fact that they're edible. In Japan, I'm not sure, although this sign made me wonder that they might all be in jail because of bodily indiscretions.

Speaking of things we never saw, there must be a bunch of Amish people somewhere in Ise, Japan. At least enough that they get their own crosswalks and associated signs