It’s a shame that our man Mr. Sato didn’t talk a little more about his own country during his recent visit to Turkey. In a video currently attracting a lot of attention here in Japan, a Turkish television crew hit the streets of Istanbul to ask its residents whether they knew the geographical location of Japan. As it happens, despite the amount of media attention that Japan has received in the past couple of years, the average man on the street in Turkey is still a little off the mark when it comes to the home of sushi and Super Mario…
If you struggle to find Mauritius on a map or turn pale when asked to point to Greece on a globe, you can take comfort in the fact that the rest of the world is perhaps just as in need of a geography lesson as you.
When reminded of the catastrophic events of March 2011 and asked whether they witnessed the scenes of destruction on TV, many of the Turkish men in the video below responded positively. Asked where said country lies, however, they were left clutching at straws, with guesses ranging from “really far away” to “North America.”
Here’s the original video. For those who don’t read Japanese, there’s a selection of some of the best (and we use the term loosely) answers below:
“It’s between Hong Kong, France and Italy.”
“On the edge of Alaska.”
“Japan’s a part of Africa, right?”
“It’s over there with Ireland and Finland isn’t it?”
“Japan is in Africa.”
“It’s in America.”
“America” (again, way to hog Japan, guys!).
Reporter: “Which countries are close to Japan?”
“There’s Venezuela… and America’s close.”
“It’s near America, Italy and Russia.”
You can stop laughing at the back of the room, Japan; one of your children once asked me, with not a shred of irony, where in the U.S. my home country of Great Britain is located, while another quizzed me as to the language people speak in England…
Oh, and for those of you who didn’t know but were too embarrassed to ask, Turkey itself is actually situated here:
Just kidding, folks! As we all know, Turkey is in fact a small fishing village located near Kent, England, famous for its cucumber pies and brightly-coloured knitwear…
See you next lesson, boys and girls!
Source: Karapaia (Japanese), YouTube Afuro Blue
Map image via Google Maps edited by RocketNews24