Customer Reviews

Wicked Japanese For The Business Traveler

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As the previous reviewer indicated, this book is not a serious study of the Japanese language, and yes, it is full of stereotypes. But Howard Tomb's take on Japanese society is often hilarious! The book is especially funny for those foreigners who have lived or stayed in Japan for an extended period of time, although that is not a prerequisite to understand the humor.

Tomb divides the book into different situations with explanations and a number of phrases for each. The phrases start out innocently enough, but get progressively outlandish and funny. For example, in the section for "Life in a Japanese Firm" you will note phrases with Japanese translations like:

"I will always agree with my superiors, even when they are totally wrong" or

"My dream is to be a tiny cog in a huge and honorable machine"

I had a friend who actually tried to use these phrases in Japanese while working for a Japanese company, but no-one understood the sarcasm (everyone took his statements seriously!). In short, the book is often hilarious in English, but not necessarily so in Japanese.

Wicked Japanese is definately worth the [money] for the laughs that it generates, but be careful if you actually decide to use it.

This book is definitely not politically correct, but if sarcastic, biting humor is your thing, this one will have you rolling. As other reviewers have stated, the humor in this book is often lost on Japanese people, but if you've ever lived here, you'll probably laugh yourself to tears by the middle of the book. I use the author's explanation on why few people travel to Japan for tourism often, and it always gets laughs.

Be very careful about using the Japanese in this book, as some of the phrases are quite offensive. Still, this is a good antidote when you've read too many boring phrasebooks, or you've had a nasty bout of culture shock.

This book had its moments, but it's certainly not to be taken seriously as phrasebook. Chockful of American stereotypes of Japan, most of the phrases, while actually Japanese, I can't imagine actually being used in real situations.

Well, maybe the phrases to use if you're a female being groped on a train ("Arrest this pervert!").

if you become annoyed with your Japanese hosts and need a witty comeback, this book is for you. Learn how to yell insults at baseball games, for example "Hey, little fella, stand up!"

I was looking for books to send to my niece in Japan. She thoroughly enjoyed the Max Danger book I sent and I wanted something in the same vein. This book is aimed at the male traveller. While it's entertaining as far as it goes, it doesn't really suit a twenty-something female. Now I face the dilemma of paying shipping to return an inexpensive book...