Free music

Belinda is looking for a new mobile phone which has decent music playing capabilities.

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Victoria: Nokia's CWM comes with a year of free music downloads.

Belinda: Not exactly free. I heard they build the cost of the music fees into the cost of the handset.

Victoria: Most young people expect music to be free. Except in Japan.

Belinda: Japanese will pay for music downloads?

Victoria: I asked a group of 15 Japanese students, "Do you pay for music or download it for free?" And all of them said, "I pay," "I pay," "I pay."

Belinda: They must be rich.

Victoria: And then, after class, I'm chatting with one of them and she tells me privately, "None of us actually pay for music. They all just told you they did. They download for free, same as people in other countries."

Belinda: Honne and tatemae!

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Sumo wrestlers, swimsuits and tattoos in the bath

How fat is fat would you say?

Like when he jumped in and the water all flowed out?

He’d have to be a sumo wrestler.

You don’t know that.

But he was big.

And what’s this? We have to wear swimsuits? In a Japanese bath?

Inside you don’t have to but that pool outside is for males and females. It make a sense.

Translation’s a bit odd. ‘Please wear a swimsuit without fail, in the case that it enters into the swimming pool.’ What’s ‘it’?

And I thought tattoos were not allowed.

Well, it would be a brave bath-house attendant to turn away a yakuza. And sssh. Did you ever see a tattoo that just said ‘Tattoo’?

Hmm, very McLuhan.

As in the medium is the massage?

Very apt. Looks like he has 50 year old shoulder in bad need of some therapy.

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