12. Miso, Mizu, Mitsubishi.

Backstory

A friend of mine from the US was originally going to meet me in Tokyo during the last leg of my trip. Due to so many friends in Japan ditching me and my friend’s desire to see Osaka we decided to meet in Osaka together instead of Tokyo.

This would require my friend to travel by himself all the way from the US to Osaka, transferring in one of Tokyo’s airports.

I asked him if he’d be able to get to Osaka by himself. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “I can ask for Miso.”

I had taught him how to say a few survival phrases on our last trip together, 2 years before when I had taught him how to ask for water, among other things.

He was trying to say mizu (water) – 水(みず) but instead he said miso – 味噌(みそ) as in miso soup (fermented soybean paste).

We went back and forth a bit trying to fix his pronunciation, but he kept mispronouncing, occasionally saying other Japanese words, like mitsu 三(み) つ – which means 3 (when counting small objects).