indispensible advice from Mrs. Edo-san

and

the entertaining evesdropping of Loose Talk

Educated Answers to Tokyo's Most Oft-Asked Questions

Q: When I'm trying to move through a dense crowd, old ladies always poke me in the back--just to the side of my lumbar region. Do these women really think that doing this will help me to move any faster? Or are they getting some sort of secret sensual pleasure from the activity?
--A.H.

A: No doubt you come from a culture which does not employ "the nudge" and will find it unpleasant until you adjust. Try to keep in mind that this gesture is simply a local form of non-verbal communication and carries no malicious intent. It is just the nudger's way of politely communicating, "I understand that there is nowhere for you to go, but I wish that you were gone anyway."

A: Each month I receive a lot more queries like yours than I would like--unanswerable philosophical inquests that have been thinly disguised as Tokyo-related questions. Would you people PLEASE respect the limits of this column and STOP writing in with impossible inquiries like "Is there sumo in outer space," "How many Tokyoite angels could fit on the head of a pin," and "What is the molecular structure of kamaboko"?!?!? I have no idea. Give me a break.

A: Traditional. With separate facilities for men and women.

You can also email questions straight to Mrs. Edo-san's desk - but make sure you state clearly in the subject line that your mail is for Mrs. Edo-san, or somone else in the office might read it, and we wouldn't want that, now would we.

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