Say What? - "You poor cute bastard"

If you happen to encounter a tasty looking morsel and would like to express yourself in 日本語/Japanese then simply say おいしいそう (oishii sou), meaning "that looks delicious." Breaking it down おいしい (oishii) is an adjective meaning delicious, and そう has multiple meanings/uses but in this case translates into English as 'looks like.' In the polite culture of Japan, this expression is heard all too often. You could plop a plate of burnt tator tots in front of a guest and they would immediately gasp "おいしいそう" pretending to faint with anticipation.

I began to notice this formula repeated when colleagues responded to my charming smile with "元気そう" （genki sou), meaning "you look happy / full of life." While not a master of Japanese, I thought the time came to hone my skills and apply 'adjective + そう' to other situations.

But before I could, I heard it again, "かわいいそう"(kawaii sou). かわいい, not to be confused with こわい (kowai / scary), means 'cute.' I would go on to hear "kawaii sou" several times, and eventually came to the conclusion "everyone thinks I'm cute." Boy was I wrong.

かわいいそう can actually be translated as "You poor thing," or "I'm sorry to hear about that," and is used as a reaction to hearing of another's trouble or peril. I received the memo too late. Even with a math degree I wouldn't be able to count the number of people I said "かわいいそう" too. Oh well, at least I and now you know not to apply the formula to any other adjective.

Though...if I encounter a sad faced gorgeous gal, I may just have to say "かわいい　かわいいそう," which using my own rules of language would translate into "You poor cute bastard."

Edible Statistics: McDonaldland Japan

"McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15." - Thomas Friedman

On July 20th, 1971, the first Japanese McDonald's opened in Tokyo. While that's 31 years after the first one opened in San Bernardino, Japan has quickly become 2nd ranking nation with the most McDonald's.

With an estimated 312,072,000 people, the United States accounts for 4.52% of the world's population. With an estimated 31,000 plus locations globally,  America's 13,381 locations account for roughly 43% of the world's McDonald's. In total, the US has one McDonalds per every 23,322 citizens.

While Japan, with a population of 127,370,000, has 3,598 locations. While Japan accounts for only 1.85% of the world's population it has nearly 12% of the world's McDonald's with one per every 35,400 citizens. Even my city of residence 青森市 / Aomori, with an estimated population of 302,068, has 5 locations providing one McDonald's per every 60,413 people. But 青森市 is in the rural Tohoku region. Now factor in Japan's bustling metropolitan areas, and that's a lot of McDonald's to make up for the numbers.

What about the competition? Burger King left in 2001, returned in 2007 and now has a mere 37 locations. America's 3rd fast food burger chain, Wendy's, left Japan in early 2010. Mos Burger, founded just one year after McDonald's landed in Japan, is the nation's 2nd largest fast food chain with an estimated 1327 locations. Consequently, McDonald's has nearly 3 times as many locations as its closest competition.

Of course these numbers don't account for competition, population density, tourists, economic factors, or dietary differences. Surprisingly using statistics alone, you're more likely to find a McDonald's in Canada, than either the US or Japan with one location per every 2,454 people.

Also surprisingly is that South Korea which shares some of Japan's food culture has only 243 locations with one per every 199,592 people. Lotteria, though first founded in Japan in 1972, is Korea's number one fast food chain accounting for 45% of the market.

McDonald's World Locations

*Please note: Crave Cravak, nor craveVSworld claim no responsibility for the contents of this post nor attest to their validity. Please visit wikipedia for their respective world population and McDonald's pages.