Speak Japanese and Shit: a language and cultural guidebook for skiers and riders

In many ways, snow acts as a universal language spoken by skiers and snowboarders the world over. Out of the backcountry and off the slopes, however, communication can get a bit more difficult when cultural barriers exist. For this reason, author and Japanophile Erinna McCarthy decided to write a guidebook, Speak Japanese and Shit, aimed to help ski and snowboard visitors to the Land of the Rising Sun navigate the sometimes confusing, sometimes outlandish ways of Japanese culture. 

With helpful phrases and cultural tips, McCarthy includes information on subjects ranging from the best places to ski to how to order a palatable meal and understand what all the buttons mean on Japanese toilets.

To find out more about her book, we caught up with McCarthy at her Lake Tahoe, Calif., home. Here is what she had to say about speaking Japanese…and shit.

Backcountry Magazine: What took you to Japan?

Erinna McCarthy: I studied abroad there in high school. I grew up with two moms and went to a private Catholic school where I was a freak loser. I remember watching this Japanese movie when I was young—there was a gay couple and it was made to seem normal [having gay parents]. I thought, “Cool! If I go to Japan, I won’t be this weird person.” So I got really into the culture and I started looking up how to study abroad. It turns out I was weird for other reasons there [in Japan], but not for that one [having two moms].

I was enrolled in an all-Japanese high school so I studied up on the language before I went because I had about a year between when I applied and when I actually went. I tried to learn the language and tried learning about the culture, but when I actually got there it was total shell shock. Everything was foreign: the smells, the sounds. I was cool for about a week in school. They were like, “Oooh, white girl!” But then they realized I couldn’t speak the language, and I moved my way to the periphery of everyone’s conversation.

Six months in, I was able to tell really bad jokes but at least I could try. And I started to join the dance team, so that was when I started making friends, having relationships and really being a part of the conversation.

BCM: What inspired you to write a language book for skiers and snowboarders visiting Japan?

EM: Last year when I went on a trip with my friends to Japan to go skiing, I remembered how hard it was for me and how lost I felt when I was first there. Certain things were seared into my memory like trying to use the toilets and not knowing what buttons to press. And I wanted to provide this obscure information that I now have. You might as well use your talents if you have them.

BCM: What was it that gave you the hardest time linguistically while you were over there?

EM: Getting down the politeness was the most difficult thing. I was always offending someone. My technique was just to smile and be a really white girl. People give you a lot of leeway, but once I started becoming more of a part of the culture and wasn’t just the fun American visiting, that’s when it started to become more difficult because I didn’t get the same leeway they had given me before.

BCM: Where do you think the best skiing in Japan is?

EM: Niseko is where you get the snow. That is the deep, endless powder run that you dream of—it’s what you see in all the movies. But Hakuba is a bit more low key and, because you are on the main island, you can also do cool day trips. You can go to Tokyo or you can go to really cool museums or onsens [hot spring spas] and palaces. Also they [the mountains on the main island] have spines and bowls. It is a little Alaska. You go to Hakuba if you want to push yourself skiing-wise, but you go to Niseko to squeal with delight [because of all the powder].

BCM: You say in your book, “Eat Natto.” Can you enlighten me?

EM: It’s soybeans. When you whip them up, they get snot-like and stringy. You can then add mustard and put it on top of rice. Foamy soybeans do not really sound appetizing, but I really like Natto. My friends were not as convinced. It might be a taste you acquire when you are forced to eat it all the time.

BCM: Another cultural experience you recommend is drinking Strong Zero. Why?

EM: It is my favorite beverage. It tastes like squirt soda, but it contains nine percent alcohol and it costs a dollar.

BCM: That sounds like a hangover in a can.

EM: Surprisingly it’s not. It is some crazy Japanese technology they bestow upon us. You could drink Strong Zero and then still wake up really early in the morning and go skiing. I don’t understand why. There is not a lot of beer, so [for beverage options] it is Kirin, Sake or Strong Zero.

BCM: I want to know how many buttons you had to push to figure out toilets.

EM: Quite a few [laughs]. There was a lot of trial and error. It can be pretty scary. You are always like, “Uh, hope this doesn’t do something terrible.” Bathing there and pooping there were my two favorite things. I felt so clean and so fresh. I remember the toilet seats were heated and in the winter you would sit down and it would just be so lovely. There was none of that cold porcelain.

BCM: What are the mascots you talk about in your book?

EM: That was something I learned about on my second trip. I didn’t know about this when I lived there the first time. It is something that artists vie for. It is a huge honor if the mascot you have created is chosen. It is supposed to represent something about the city or the place. For instance, there are highway mascots, each ski resort has a mascot, cities have mascots. And usually it has something to do with what they are famous for. In Nagano, they have lots of bears and really delicious apples, so their mascot is an apple bear. But some of them don’t make any sense and are just shapes.

BCM: What is something you think ski tourists miss out on that you can help them experience?

EM: Well, my main advice would be that if you have a chance to step off the beaten path, I recommend doing that. When you get to travel to places in Japan where there are not a lot of people, especially not a lot of Westerners, it is a great experience.

BCM: Will you ever think of moving back?

EM: Yes. If I really want to sell this book I should probably go over there and sell it to people. It’s a weird place and I am weird myself. That’s why I like it.

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Find Speak Japanese and Shit at speakjapaneseandshit.com.