JAPAN: YOU MUST LAUGH DAILY

The local government in Japan’s Yamagata prefecture has just passed an ordinance calling on residents to laugh at least once every day. The purpose is to promote better physical and mental health. The ordinance is asking business operators to “develop a workplace environment that is filled with laughter.” The eighth day of every month has also been designated as the day for “residents to promote health through laughter.”
* What a joke.
* And when you laugh, you have to laugh with your hand in front of your mouth, like a Japanese schoolgirl.
* Must it be a full-blown laugh, or can you just giggle, chuckle or snicker?
* And don’t go overboard. No cackling or guffawing.
* I can see them maybe having some trouble with this law at the Hiroshima Memorial Museum.
* Here, from the internet, are some Japanese jokes. Not sure if these are actually from Japan, or some English-speaking person’s idea of a Japanese joke:
– Why couldn’t the sumo wrestler make friends? Because he was always pushing them away.
– What did the sushi say to the bee? “Wasabi!”
– Why did the Japanese chef get arrested? He was caught miso-behaving.