Signs and reading Japanese.

      I do not read Japanese, and this is a major setback to life here in the land of the rising sun.  It is especially a pain in the neck when shopping.  I once bought skim milk thinking it was regular milk, which seems minor until you factor in the sheer volume of complaints emanating from the developing human in my life.  Size apparently is inversely related to vociferous rejection of fatherly mistakes.  The inability to read Japanese characters usually resolves itself when English characters (called romanji in Japan) are used and I can figure out the meaning.  I now have greater empathy for illiterates in society. . .

     One of the positives though is that many signs in Japan use cartooning to strengthen their message, and determining the meaning from them can be funny.  While I was jogging the other day I encountered this sign.  My thoughts of what it means were that "if you walk your dog here, we will throw explosives at you and blow up your dog!".  I looked around to make sure that there were no dogs in the area that may be misconstrued as mine.  It seemed best to not test their resolve, since rules in Japan are followed without variation.  When I showed this sign to Yuta (he is literate in Japanese) he told me that it was just a warning not to litter.  What I took to be a stick of dynamite is really a can.  I like my misunderstanding better, its more exciting!