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old hand
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old hand
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"Damen" and reminded me that this meant "women" in German .. which in itself would hardly cause a chuckle, if the word were not quite generally used to label ladies "washrooms"
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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used to label ladies "washrooms"
For the men we have rooms labeled Da Men and for the women those labeled Herren. Makes sense to me.
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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For the men we have rooms labeled Da Men and for the women those labeled Herren. Makes sense to me.
Clarification - in case anyone else was puzzled - that's "Da Men" as opposed to "Da Wimmin," and "Herren" as opposed to "His'n".
The German words are Herren und Damen for Men and Women (Ladies, if you prefer).
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Then there was the time Jack Paar, the penoriginal host of the Tonight Show, came back from a trip to Japan and showed pictures of the restrooms he saw in the Tokyo airport. They were labeled Men and Women in English but the kanji (the Japanese ideographic characters) were the same on each door.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Did he ever indicate what the characters meant? I can envision them both being the equivalent of "Washroom" or "Toilet." Do/did the Japanese have unisex public bathrooms anyway?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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what the characters meant?
He just showed the picture. I was just a young lambkin at the time and certainly don't remember what they were. I always imagined that there was some sort of clue obvious to the Japanese that indicated which was which. Something like the men's room is always on the right.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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This is slightly off-thread, but. Covington, Kentucky proudly boasts a Main Straße. I think that's pretty funny. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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wsieber - Is it also that general use in Germany,?, cuz it wuz why I chuckled...
Clarification - in case anyone else was puzzled - that's "Da Men" as opposed to "Da Wimmin,"...
Datz 'cuz he spent *some time in "my kinda town".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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*some time in "my kinda town".
Some time? I was born and raised there. Only left to join the Navy.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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re: Do/did the Japanese have unisex public bathrooms anyway?
No.. i didn't see any. most of the baths aren't unisex anymore either. (but i did go to one that was unisex, but my sister and i left as men started to arrive.) at least not in cities.
though nudity in general is not a issue, it is strictly taboo to expose pubic hair, (even women in a womans bath would make sure to have her hands and a wash cloth covering her self in a public bath)
Tokyo has lots of clean public toilets availlable, but none provide tissue. everyone is expected to carry their own. some of the bathrooms have western style facilities, some are old fashioned "holes in the ground" with small platforms for you feet, and a small handhold to on the right side to hold one while you straddle the hole.
it rarely get below freezing, so they toilets are open year round. (they only have cold water for washing your hands-- and no towels or hot air driers..)
i only traveled in cities, so i don't know what things are like in small towns or the country.
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