Lipstick on a Pig

[Taro Toporific]

All I can say is, "Duh!"

ECONOMIC FORUM / To help increase tourism, first beautify Japan ...
"Ushinawareta Keikan" (Lost Sights of Beauty), by Prof. Ryuichiro Matsubara of Tokyo University's graduate school. In the book, Matsubara says, "The affluence of a country can be judged in part by the extent of the beauty of its sights." "Why are the sights surrounding our day-to-day lives so strange and ugly?" . . .The first thing that must be done to encourage toreign tourists to visit is to make Japan a country that the Japanese themselves feel is "beautiful." . . . piority instead should be placed on projects to make the cities beautiful, such as those to have electricity, telephone and other cables laid underground. ---The Yomiuri Shimbun, 4, Feb. 2003
Full-size photo here.

[groovewonder]

Okinawa is more or less a pretty beautiful place to live, but we still have the same problems with big-ass electricity/telephone poles sticking out of the ground. Plus, we have tiny, tiny roads, even in the "big" city and too many idiots parking their vans, trucks, and cars wherever they please.

It's funny, I got my car towed twice last year: once outside my work office (a perfectly legal spot, or so i thought), and the second time five days later outside of my then girlfriend's (now wife) house where i had been parking for months. i hardly ever see japanese get their cars towed, but i'm sure it happens. i get this feeling they LOVE towing foreigners cars though...

anyway, that whole story came from thinking about how the japanese park wherever they damn-well-please over here. you guys are lucky enough to have subways and trains. we're getting a monorail next year, but i doubt it'll do any good for clearing up traffic, the very worst thing about okinawa.

last time i visited osaka, that city even had less traffic than okinawa. maybe i'm imagining.. mainland japan has gotta do something though, no offense but it's DAMN UGLY compared to this island. your cities are more fun though. i'd go to the mainland any day of the week.

[Taro Toporific]

maybe i'm imagining.. mainland japan has gotta do something though, no offense but it's DAMN UGLY compared to this island.

"DAMN UGLY"? I'd say butt-ugly but I would not want to insult the butts of the world. Out of other islands like Sadogashima, way up north half-way to Siberia, it can be damn beautiful (minus the abandoned cars and sodaigomi left everywhere). They even have mega-freaky cold water reefs if you're into diving...

[groovewonder]

which is worse? you guys have pollution too, i think? ours just gets blown out to sea.. hehe.

[Taro Toporific]

i like the telephone lines.

Love lines? Then, you'll looooove these...




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