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February 7th 2006 - Tokyo:
The English-Speaking Union of Japan (ESUJ)
and eigoTown.com today announced the winners
of their annual "Amazing English Hunt"
Awards. The awards, which began in 2003, are
designed to spotlight English used in Japan
that is amusing, unnecessary, embarrassing,
exceptionally creative or just downright bizarre.
ESUJ Chairman Masamichi Hanabusa commented, "The
Awards are intended to cover various types of English,
from those that make foreigners laugh out loud to
those that use forced, unnecessary or even pseudo-English
language. We would like Japanese people to consider
a little more carefully both how and why they use
English."
Russell Willis, CEO of eigoTown.com, noted, "We
had an even better response to the Awards this year,
and I think that they are helping to raise people's
awareness of how and where English is used around
them. By shedding light on the bad and ridiculous
usage of English, but also pointing out good and
creative examples, we hope that English usage in
Japan will improve."
The entrants who submitted the six winning entries
each receive a cash prize of \20,000.
The awards were decided by a panel of judges which
consisted of:
| Masahiko Ishizuka - |
Ex Foreign Press Centre Director
General |
| Masamichi Hanabusa - |
Chairman, English-Speaking Union of Japan |
| Tsunetada Matsudaira - |
Director-General, English-Speaking Union
of Japan |
| Sir Graham Fry - |
British Ambassador to Japan |
| Peter Barakan - |
Freelance Broadcaster and Music Critic |
| Russell Willis - |
CEO, eigoTown.com |
| Susan Millington - |
ESUJ Board Member. |
The 2005 Award winners were as follows: |
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| １． |
Sign Language Award
"Please
be careful to forget valuables." |
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| ２． |
Careful What You Say
Award
"Relax
Place Pee Pee Kaa Kaa" |
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| ３． |
Non-Appetizing Award
"The Dish of
a Prejudice!" |
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| ４． |
Incomprehensible English
Award
"Being
Slovenly, there is no ginger it is.
I having done now, Until it dies, the
spare time crushing. I wanna be free!!!" |
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| ５． |
What's in a Name Award
(NHK's) BS
News |
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| ６． |
Only in Japan Award
"Thank
you for always using a restroom neatly.
If there was a mat, the point that mind
is with it please order it to a sales
clerk. A restroom becomes a prohibition
of smoking. Please refrain from a cigarette.
The damage of a pervert goes in a peripheral
district and now plain clothes policeman
goes around it and hits caution Hello.
In crime prevention the staff uses a
restroom too. Please approve it I beg
you to understand my position. - A store
keeper" |
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| ７． |
Special Commendation
"Cool
Biz / Warm Biz" |
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| １． |
Sign Language Award （おしらせ英語賞）
"Please
be careful to forget valuables."
Found in a restaurant in Hokkaido.
Hanabusa noted, "As the entrant
pointed out, this sign makes it seem
like someone was looking to make a little
money on the side by selling customers'
belongings!"
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| ２． |
Careful What You Say Award
"Relax
Place Pee Pee Kaa Kaa"
Discovered near the entrance to a resort
hotel in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture.
Willis noted, "One can only guess
at why anyone would want to use such
childish words to name their establishment.
This entry was chosen over several examples
that were...let's just say, "not
fit to print." Though usually unintentional,
the usage of offensive English words
or those with crude double meanings,
is much more common than it should be."
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| ３． |
Non-Appetizing Award
"The
Dish of a Prejudice!"
The sign for a restaurant in Shizuoka
station.
Barakan noted, "It gets your imagination
working overtime!"
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| ４． |
Incomprehensible English Award
"Being
Slovenly, there is no ginger it is.
I having done now, Until it dies, the
spare time crushing. I wanna be free!!!"
Spotted on a flyer in a theater lobby
in Sendai.
The entrant included in his accompanying
comments that the text is "dadaistic,
brilliant in its absurdity and irrationality."
Willis noted, "Reading it again
and again, I get no closer to understanding
what this could possibly mean. It has
hints of machine translation, in which
case it is classic example of how far
that technology still has to go."
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| ５． |
What's in a Name Award
(NHK's) BS
News
Hanabusa noted, "Provided BS means
the same as Japanese "uso",
this is my choice." With NHK's
satellite channels being BS1 and BS2,
this was the obvious choice for their
news show. But taken in isolation, the
name suggests a less than trustworthy
news source! |
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| ６． |
Only in Japan Award
"Thank
you for always using a restroom neatly.
If there was a mat, the point that mind
is with it please order it to a sales
clerk. A restroom becomes a prohibition
of smoking. Please refrain from a cigarette.
The damage of a pervert goes in a peripheral
district and now plain clothes policeman
goes around it and hits caution Hello.
In crime prevention the staff uses a
restroom too. Please approve it I beg
you to understand my position. - A store
keeper"
Willis
noted, "The Japanese judges pointed
this out as one of many examples of
how language meant to put Japanese customers
at their ease just sounds silly and
unnecessary when translated. And in
this case the translation itself leaves
a lot to be desired." |
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| ７． |
Special Commendation
"Cool
Biz / Warm Biz"
Suggested by Ambassador Fry and
approved by the panel as an example
of good and creative usage of English.
While "warm biz" has less
impact than its summertime equivalent,
the two phrases caught on quickly and
seem to have had a measurable effect
on Japanese business etiquette.
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Honorable mentions also go to the
following entries:
"WASHED
UP. This cup has been washed. Be relieved,
and use it."
- Found on the plastic wrapper for a
bathroom cup in a hotel in Nara.
"Noncomburnable
Garbage."
- Seen on a garbage can belonging to
the Starbucks in Mihama, Okinawa.
"Why
is the curry very black? The curry by
Frank Tei is a very black, painful taste.
Another cannot eat this taste. This
dish is being liked by a lot of people.
President's most favorite food is a
curry. The president developed this
curry sticking to. The president was
cooking the curry the day before when
the Shimo-Kitazawa shop was opened.
The flower of the friend and congratulation
came to the shop. However the president
did not consent to the taste of the
curry. And the opening has been postponed.
The president is sticking to the curry
by there is such an episode. Curry with
black legend. It softly cooks the onion
and the boullion of the pain and beef
is cooked for six hours. It is a blend
doing 18 kinds of spices there, and
it cooks for the day. "
- A sign in Shizuoka station advertising
a local restaurant and their special
curry.
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