Every time I go to Japan I learn something new. This trip the Japanese Metro (subway authority) taught me something important about being drunk. They recognized that yes, indeed I will be drunk from time to time and perhaps to the point that I’m passed out on the ground with people looking at me in disbelief. They are not so arrogant as to tell me that I should not be passed out on the ground, in my suit and tie, with my briefcase still with me after a day at work…they just kindly request that I do it at home. Ok, fine I’ll take my bottle of sake to my room instead of getting trashed on the subway tonight. Japan, you can have your way and win this time…just keep making that great sake for us.

Seriously though, if you’ve been to Japan and have seen the subway/train stations at night then undoubtedly you have seen the drunken passed out corpses of stressed out “salary men” who drink away the pain after work. Seeing a public sign like this at the subway stations actually makes sense in the context of Japanese urban life. For non Japanese like myself, the fact that a sign like this exists is both highly entertaining and also an interesting sign of the cultural situation (some might say problem) that exists in Japan.