“Shop Around”

This is one of those little moments I have that never seem blog-worthy, but for once I am going to post it, just because it was a bit surreal to me.

Tonight, during a break between a two-hour class at my home school, I went out to a vending machine to get a drink. As I was putting my money into the machine, an odd, conflicting set of stimuli really hit me:

1. Business people were walking past me, laughing and talking.
2. I put a 5-yen coin into the machine and it didn’t accept it (10 yen, which is about 12 cents, is the minimum you can use).
3. A restaurant was playing music on its speakers: that old Motown hit: “Shop Around.”

I don’t know. It just amused me. Maybe I was just tired, but it really struck me. It was just a good example of the kind of thing I never would have expected in Japan. Hearing music like that, or seeing famous American movie stars hawking Japanese products on countless billboards…

Does Cameron Diaz really use the same cell phone provider as me? Does Richard Gere own property in Japan? And does Tommy Lee Jones actually crack open a can of Boss Coffee when he needs that extra burst of energy to kick butt? Somehow, I doubt it. But I’ll keep my eyes peeled. Especially when I walk past a Softbank cell phone shop!