The muscle man may be politely moving his bag so as not to bump the man behind him or he may actually be protecting his stash from theft. Looks like in the 3rd picture he is saying "look at my muscle little man. I will crush you if you touch my bag again." The guy with the book definitely looks a little terrified. Muscle head man kinda looks like a foreigner to me.
The muscle guy is absolutely meant to be a foreigner. I recognized that instantly. And the third shot definitely looks to be made to look like a threat toward the bookworm.
ReplyDeleteI can count the number of times a foreigner with a backpack bumped into me on a train in six years of living in Tokyo: zero
The number of times Japanese bumped into me with their bags: countless
Really the worst is people falling asleep on your shoulder while seated.
So glad to be out of that situation. Now get around in the comfort of a Lexus with plenty of space and no one touches me.
If any stranger on the train fell asleep on my shoulder they would get a good elbow to the ribs.
ReplyDeleteI was in Kamakura last month and took the train from the station near Daibutsu. Even though I was standing first at the door on the platform while holding a small child, I was still pushed out of the way by I believe teenagers as they pushed to get on the train. If that happened in America they would get their butts kicked.
lol, I think you are spot on with the comments of this one. :-)
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I can't see it.
ReplyDeleteIf your image of Japanese people is some scrawny guy in a suit, then think again. I see enough guys on TV and at universities that I teach at that one could simply label as "beefcake" that make this image applicable to Japanese just as much as Foreigners.
Expect a bias, look for a bias, you will find a bias.
But I do love these images, they are great for blog posts.
Agreed that it is debatable and being a cartoon it is impossible to know. It's not just the muscles. I actually was looking at his face which seemed foreign. But once again it is a cartoon so completely impossible to be certain.
ReplyDeleteI doesn't bother me so much though. Because even it is meant to be a foreigner, he politely moved his bag. So in that sense the muscle guy is acting politely and put in a good light. :)
And that is how we want it.
ReplyDeleteThough I have seen enough American Services personnel acting like ass-hats on the train to face-palm too often.
Agreed. The service members should read these signs.
ReplyDelete