I was reading the English translation of the Japan Times yesterday over a cup of coffee at Mister Donuts, and I read an article that made me laugh out loud, thereby attracting even more attention than is due for a foreigner in a Japanese coffee-shop.

The article was about a new policy adopted by the Tokyo school board that allowed boys` and girls` names to be mixed (`gender-free` is the term used) on the daily attendance rosters (previously, boys` names had gone first, because, as the article explains, they would complain if the girls were first, whereas girls don`t complain as much because it`s not their nature. No comment from this humble blogger on THAT particular can of worms.). What I found so funny was a comment by a member of the Board of Educationon. Here is the exact quote:

`First you mix boys and girls together in the names list, and before you know it they`ll be sharing rooms on school trips, because differences are no longer recognized between the sexes. And then eventually they`ll be changing clothes in front of each other or holding piggy-back races together.`

Good Heavens! The equilibrium of Japanese society rests on the chance popularization of mixed-gender piggy-back races! The very fabric of civilized living is coming undone! Repent, for the end is at hand!

He, he, he. Piggy-back races. I love this crazy country.