It’s somehow reassuring to see that there is occidentalism in Asia that’s every bit as absurd as orientalism in the West. Westerners get Chinese character tattoos which supposedly mean something spiritual but really are a grocery list, Asia gets T-shirts with nonsense phrases in English. The West gets tropes of the “Mystic East” which mash China, Japan, Thailand and India together into a melange of pagodas and temples, Asia gets stories set in “European” settings that combine England, Switzerland and Venice or something similarly absurd. Europe gets Fu Manchu, Asia gets Bobson Dugnutt. And now this.
It’s somehow reassuring to see that there is occidentalism in Asia that’s every bit as absurd as orientalism in the West. Westerners get Chinese character tattoos which supposedly mean something spiritual but really are a grocery list, Asia gets T-shirts with nonsense phrases in English. The West gets tropes of the “Mystic East” which mash China, Japan, Thailand and India together into a melange of pagodas and temples, Asia gets stories set in “European” settings that combine England, Switzerland and Venice or something similarly absurd. Europe gets Fu Manchu, Asia gets Bobson Dugnutt. And now this.
It’s kinda beautiful in a way
Reminds me of this cool western design shirt I found in a store in Tokyo
If you’re not aware of this website, I think you’ll enjoy it- https://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/
Sadly, it no longer seems to be kept updated.
Engrish.com
From web 1.0