(excerpts from my book)
“This was our Kokusai Dōri (International Street) day. DyLon had Black-market Alley on his to-do sheet and it promised to be a day of fair weather so that item was about to be ticked off from his list.”
“The unintentional misuse or misspelling of the English language never fails to amuse me. As we tramped along the streets of Kokusai and Heiwa (Black Market Alley) the number of signs and posters are simply overwhelming. Every now and again one just stands out from the crowd. A concession selling sweets was emblazoned with their name and motto, “Puffy Snow – Sweets of Topic Dragon Ice.” I’m nearly certain that they intended for the sign maker to have used the word “Tropic” though. A T-shirt shop had on display a shirt with a logo and English language motto “Heavy Drunker Remember Nothing.” I chuckle at things like that but then almost immediately regret that I cannot express myself nearly as well in Japanese as they are able to in English. So, my chuckling doesn’t last long, not long at all.”
“We stepped out just behind the main market area and discovered a multitude of smaller, and cheaper, places selling produce, souvenirs, prepared food items, clothes, etc. Most impressive for me was the stark contrast between the main streets that cater to high-class shoppers and tourists and, directly behind them, the authentic, even if sometimes squalid, living conditions of the commoners of Naha, Okinawa.”
AloJapan.com