Recently, a lot of fuss was made over an advertisement spotted near the Amerikamura (American Village) area of Osaka. Although overlooked by most Japanese who walked by, the posters hit English speaking foreigners like a slap in the face. It read: “Fuckin’ Sale — All 20% Off”.

This poster and the ensuing controversy surrounding it raises more questions than it does answers for both Japanese and Western people.

First off, Japanese people might wonder what the big deal is. They might not understand that this word, although used daily by a majority of the native English speaking world, is almost never publicly printed or spoken. Nor might they understand that this often isn’t just because of taboo, but that doing so is legally punishable by a large fine.

As a result, when a foreigner sees this it’s like watching someone flagrantly break the law – kind of like the shock you’d get watching someone hit a bus with a baseball bat. Although not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, such audacity in itself is rather amazing to see and can attract a variety of knee-jerk reactions from anger to amusement.

In the case of English speakers, they are most likely wondering what exactly a “fuckin’ sale” is. Most people’s first reaction is that this sale must be huge to warrant such a modifier, but surely 20% off just doesn’t cut it to be considered a “fuckin’ sale,” even if it is on all merchandise.

Possibly this is some sort of edgy punk rock store making an angst-ridden statement? Yet judging by the selection of clothes in the front display, the shop appears to cater to classy ladies, whom we would expect to be the least likely to drop the f-bomb, which rules out that reason.

English speakers who have never been to Japan may not be aware of the most likely reason: English words are often used for nothing more than decoration in this country. It’s much like how western countries put Chinese characters on shirts without fully (or even partially) understanding their complicated meanings and feelings. It’s just an easy way to get cool points.

It was reported that the signs were taken down shortly after the photos went viral, which we think is a shame: the bottom line is that it’s just a word that doesn’t hurt anyone and, if anything, achieved its intended goal of drawing more attention than the shop could have imagined. People who get upset over the innocent use of a simple word should just fuckin’ relax.


[ Read in Japanese ]