Tsukuba Monogatari: Fourth post
This is to recommend that Japanese pantyhose makers begin production of a size “LL” to target the gaijin women market. Currently, Japanese “L” size pantyhose literally falls short at a maximum length of 165 cm. Two additional centimeters could mean the difference between success and a critical incident. What evaluations must employees of The Company be making about my company’s 167 cm-tall trainer (not David) who has to duck into unoccupied cubicles every ten minutes or so to hitch up her you-know-what? Such furtive behavior might easily be misinterpreted by Japanese when viewed on the surface.
- Description: Sasaki-san is every ten minutes or so darting into unoccupied cubicles.
- Interpretation: She likes cubicles.
- Alternative interpretation: She is looking for something she is not supposed to find.
- Evaluation: She must be 1) a cubicle groupie or 2) an industrial spy.
Most Japanese women have never had to deal with pantyhose that simply does not come up to their, er, expectations. Most Japanese men have never had to deal with wearing pantyhose at all (except at farewell party skits and cross-dressing bars). How many Japanese would understand, much less empathize, with the submerged cultural reason (worn “below the iceberg,” so to speak) why a gaijin woman would be forced to take mincing steps between cubicles—not because she has been trained to walk in kimono, but because she feels in constant danger of having her 165-cm pantyhose collapse about her knees?
“Pantyhose“: Courtesy of Emily Orpin. Licensed under cc by NC 2.0
No Comments Yet