Anti-drug poster featuring Yukie Nakama to go up at schools nationwide

Wednesday 01st July, 05:00 AM JST

TOKYO —

Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Ryu Shionoya, 59, recently showed off the new anti-drug poster featuring actress Yukie Nakama, 29, that will be put up at junior high schools, high schools and universities around Japan this month. The poster says “NO! DRUG” in English in a large white font, and underneath it says “dame, zettai” – which means something to the effect of not taking them under any circumstances.

The poster targeting drug use among young people coincides with this month’s release of “Gokusen THE MOVIE,” starring Nakama as Kumiko Yamaguchi – mathematics teacher and granddaughter of a yakuza boss - and she is wearing her trademark sports gear in the poster. She is folding her arms and in smaller white font next to her resolute pose is a sentence that says: “Let’s get the courage to stand up and protect those important to us.”

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Latest 15 of 63 Total Comments Show All

Fadamor at 02:48 AM JST - 2nd July

A poster declaring "No" to drugs under any circumstances doesn't sound to me like scaremongering (or fear-mongering). It's simply saying, "I don't care how many drugs you're able to juggle without OD'ing, I'm not joining in."

And yes, nicotine and alcohol should be included in there as "drugs".
griff at 10:36 AM JST - 2nd July

A poster declaring "No" to drugs under any circumstances doesn't sound to me like scaremongering (or fear-mongering).

it's a drastic oversimplification of a complex issue
RandomTask at 12:22 PM JST - 2nd July

“NO! GRAMMAR” “dame, zettai”

Seems to be the slogan in Japan right now.
The758 at 02:41 PM JST - 2nd July

More trouble with plurals. Like the book shops that sell BOOK

Most kids don't pay much attention to these posters. Or they put push-pins in the eyes, color in the teeth, etc.
TokyoXtreme at 04:08 PM JST - 2nd July

I'm considering making a T-shirt with "NO! GRAMMAR" slogan, and the requisite "dame zettai". Satire is apparently a deep underground concept in Japan.
escape_artist at 09:26 PM JST - 2nd July

I know the use of English here is simply for show, but why oh why can't those in supposed positions of authority use proper English on such things!? Or get out from behind their xenophobia and simply ask someone who DOES know English. He's a frickin' Education Ministry official and here he is spreading yet more bad English. Sheesh. It continually amazes me given how much time is wasted in Japan learning grammar (which I guess includes the proper placement of punctuation?). And for what? I know such apathy toward learning proper English by so many in Japan means eternal job security for those of us in the language business, but come on!

Do those in Japan who really don't care about learning proper/good English also do this with other languages like Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Russian? Wouldn't surprise if the same "don't care" attitude exists there too. I wonder how such Japanese folks would feel/react if gaijin started throwing Japanese kana, kanji & words in a jumble, pretending it was "Japanese" (and that they stubbornly believed it was Japanese), and then putting it on official-looking posters and the like. Probably too much of a strain for such misusers of English to ponder, no doubt. As long as it looks like English, it must be English... Yup, it's that image-over-substance meme again. A bit like those "KY" posters at Seiyu the last month or so. Ha!

But back to the poster here. Hell, this isn't an ant-drug poster at all, but another sneaky attempt to sell something, here promoting a movie. Everything in Japan seems like it ain't worth nothin' unless it can make some money for someone. I see it easily failing, and frankly, hope it does. Do govt officials honestly believe such a lame poster will stop kids from exploring drugs? Meanwhile, sales of ganja-emblazoned hats & T-shirts among the targeted kids are on the up and up...
kaze221 at 06:41 AM JST - 3rd July

this is awesone
telecasterplayer at 12:15 PM JST - 3rd July

If I had one of those posters, I'd roll the biggest fattest most-ginormous...
The758 at 01:13 PM JST - 3rd July

I know the use of English here is simply for show, but why oh why can't those in supposed positions of authority use proper English on such things!? Or get out from behind their xenophobia and simply ask someone who DOES know English.

This has been discussed around the internet. I forgot the main reason(s), but it was something like 'the Japanese as a whole don't understand proper English anyway, so going through the trouble of editing for mistakes wouldn't really be worth the cost.'

Great, huh?
escape_artist at 02:21 PM JST - 3rd July

@The758:

This has been discussed around the internet....

I know; I was just venting. I work in the language business so on one level appreciate the unending opportunity to correct things. But what's "correct" regarding English in Japan is pretty relative since this sort of pseudo English (and pseudo other languages?) IS being used for a different purpose here than how naive users of English would normally use or expect it.

On another level, though, the main thing to look at here is not really whether the Latin characters are organized "correctly" or "properly", but whether the intended message is understandable to and will actually reach or affect the intended readers/viewers in the ways the writers hope. I think in the end this is far more important than whether the text follows certain grammatical & other "rules" of English as it's used by native speakers. Grammar & spelling, etc. are important and useful in guiding us toward understandable communication, but they aren't everything, nor written in stone.

For any communication to be understandable, though, I think optimally the target audience has to be fully understood -- their thoughts & feelings, their aspirations, fears, goals, expectations and, in this case, their reasons for using drugs. On this more fundamental level, I think the Education Ministry, like most govt. and authoritative bodies in Japan, fails miserably by once again not being able (it seems) to get to the heart of the problem beyond treating its intended audience as nothing more than mere consumers (here, of a new movie). And for this reason, a poster that cosmetically uses a popular talent beside a symbolized jumble of Latin characters will also fail, despite the talento's current character being yakuza-related (to scare the readers into not doing drugs, I guess).

If the govt and society here really wants kids to stop using drugs, they're going to have to go a lot deeper than merely parading around ineffective posters that only keep proving how disconnected the govt is from the everyday lives of common people (i.e., not of other govt officials, or the growing elite class). Drug culture is pervasive in Japan among young people, as in many other countries. Surely the govt isn't that blind to see this. But the more the govt does stunts like this poster here, passing it off as a serious effort in Japan's "war on drugs", then the harder it will be to really stop drug use among young people in a caring & lasting way. All of society needs to be involved, too, not just authoritative figures hiring talentos pointing threatening fingers. Kids won't listen to that.
escape_artist at 02:25 PM JST - 3rd July

Oops. That should say in the first paragraph, "...IS being used for a different purpose here than how native users of English would normally use or expect it."
cooeecobber at 02:43 PM JST - 3rd July

Or, maybe the sign was supposed to read: No.1 Drug
womanforwomen at 03:58 PM JST - 3rd July

The758,

Even if it is meant for Japanese, the message should be conveyed correctly. Quite surprised that Jadministration allows almost anyone and everyone from all countries to teach English. It is sad that particularly the little ones are taught wrong from the tender age. I admit that some countries use English almost like an official language. But that does not mean that they are able to use the language properly.Note: I am not an English teacher.
rabblerouser at 07:03 PM JST - 3rd July

womanforwomen, I beg to disagree. There are plenty of people from countries where English is not a native but an official language who can write, speak, and teach excellent English and are doing a great job here in Japan. Note: I too am not an English teacher.
TokyoXtreme at 02:53 PM JST - 4th July

Maybe "NO! DRUG" is simply the name of a drugstore, like "Universal Drug" or "Happy Drug" or "Papa's Drug". Also, the "NO!" is a typo, because it's supposed to be N°1 DRUG, as cooeecobber suggested above. That number one drug, of course, is assumed to be sex with Japanese girls wearing glasses. And "dame zettai" is the token resistance a refined lady is supposed to offer.