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Salarymen (and women) reveal their most embarrassing moments while drunk

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"While in a karaoke box, I took a dive on the table and spilled drinks all over the person I was with."

The speaker, a 33-year-old woman, used the English word "daibingu" (diving) to describe her drunken fall. Since this term appears in Iwanami Shoten's authoritative Kojien dictionary ("Daibingu: tobikomu koto"), usage in this context appears to be acceptable.

In its latest monthly poll of 100 salarymen, Takarajima (July) asks the subjects regarding drinking habits, and more specifically about unpleasant things that happened to them while they were under the influence, under the headline "Yoparatte no Daishittai" -- huge mishaps (or indiscretions) that happened (to me) while drunk.

Reflecting the magazine's mostly young readership, the respondents were mainly males and females in their 30s (38 people) and 40s (36 people), with another 17 in their 20s. Only nine over age 50 took part.

Due to a variety of factors reported elsewhere -- such as the recession cutting into married workers' "pocket money," cutbacks in corporate entertainment budgets (also due to the recession) and a trend toward less after-work socializing between co-workers -- the frequency of drinking is not as common as some might suppose. Forty-eight, or just under half the respondents, told Takarajima they go out two times or less per month, as opposed to 10% who said they go out 10 or more times per month.

Only two of the 100 respondents said they managed to imbibe for an average of 2,000 yen or less. Sixty percent said their average expenditures exceeded 3,500 yen per evening and another 20% said they typically spent between 3,000 to 3,500 yen.

The magazine lists up 25 personal accounts of embarrassing indiscretions. Interestingly, most of the ones from males insist they had "virtually no recollection," or "just a vague memory" of what they did while drunk.

"Once while drunk, I sat at the base of Hachiko in Shibuya and while shouting, 'Go for it, all you teeny boppers!' began flinging 100-yen coins," a 36-year old gent employed at a general contractor recalls.

The females' accounts, however, tended to be much more detailed, and entertaining to boot.

Take the one by a female civil servant, age 36, who typically goes out three nights a month.

"My female boss often invites me out. After she's had a few drinks to loosen up, she'll start rambling to me, saying things like, 'You're still young, and are a good dresser, so everything's fun for you. You've got long legs and aren't overweight -- you're about one-half my weight.'

"But when I corrected her in in jest by saying, 'Not one-half -- more like one-third,' she became infuriated."

A 28-year-old woman in a media-related business says she tipples an average of 15 times a month.

"One night the drinks were so yummy I couldn't help myself, but just chug-a-lugged them down. Before I realized it, I couldn't walk, and a 'sempai' (senior co-worker) took me to his (or her -- gender here was not specified) place to sober up. There was no elevator, just a spiral staircase that I had to climb up to the sixth floor. So there I was climbing in circles, and the booze was churning around in my stomach and my head was spinning, and, well, I regurgitated right there on the steps!

"I was passed out on the bed while my sempai went out to mop up the mess," she blushes. "I was mortified!"

Other accounts included a not-so-funny fall that resulted in a fractured skull; having one's pocket picked; and awakening the next morning to discover that while in his cups the previous night, the gentleman had proposed marriage to a Filipina pub hostess.

Takarajima's eminently sensible advice is to neither overindulge in drink -- nor let others force it upon you.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

47 Comments
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Alcoholism transverses culture and time. It has been with us from the beginnings. The issue is not the disease as much as it's causes. Like all addiction the victim denies the problem. And as with tobacco addition, the cure is abstinence. The roots of the self-destructive behavior are the problem that needs to be dealt with, and those causes may be widely diverse, but it boils down to why a person is seeking to harm themselves. If the cause can be revealed, then the abstinence is an easy second step.

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Fadamor: Yes, but I am plenty sure that you can write "off the wall" stuff that is still genuinely interesting, deshou? How interesting is it to read about people getting drunk and doing silly things?

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Well said MeJapanese

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Drunks are disgusting.....

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Tranel, the Kuchikomi section here seems to be devoted to the off-the-wall articles. You're probably never going to find "real" news in this section. If this were up in the "National News" section I could see your point, but here... meh.

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This article turned my world on its head! People do embarrassing things when they are drunk—goodness, I had no idea!

Perhaps the most embarrassing thing of all is the huge amount of wasted time that went into writing this article.

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Where I live in the U.S., young people rent houses for the summer at the seashore. A few years back a young guy across the street got really trashed, came home and climbed into bed...in the wrong house on the wrong street...in the chief of police's house. The chief and his wife went out for ice cream and he ran upstairs with his gun drawn after his wife screamed. Needless to say, that kid was the talk of the town(and the police force). Now that was an embarrassing moment.

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I'm of the same mind as Kuroyama but before you attain that level of wisdom regarding alcohol and "knowing when to say 'when'", there's usually a period of overindulgence while you fine-tune where your cut-off point should be. In my case that period happened while I was in the service. All my embarrassing moments that included too much alcohol occurred back then. By the time I was 24, though, I had figured out when to stop.

Now I only drink socially and even then it's usually only a couple of beers with fellow football officials after a meeting. Getting blitzed doesn't really help you do anything.

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Say it all. When alcohol is at the top your head, you get drunk,you forget everything became out of control, the next thing you will know is you have headache.Instead of doing the drinking and get drunk why not go home eat and sleep or watch t.v. listen to music.As simple as that.Why make life so complicated.

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Pathetic article, tame stories.

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Down in Mexico, this kind of drinking is seen as childish. When my Mexican friends come to Japan, they just get a kick out of seeing well dressed Japanese peeing in the middle of Shinjuku station, or other well dressed Japanese men and women sleeping in their own barf at any major station in Tokyo. In Mexico, these kind of drinkers would be labeled ALCOHOLICS.

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Nothing that's been listed in this story really is embarassing to be honest. There have been far worse stories I can recollect from own expereinces and those I've heard from friends. Throwing up when drunk so what, spilling drinks whilst the head spins sure thing, saying something out of hand whilst talking under the inlfuence...wel it be more embarrassing if you said it sober.

How about waking up to find you're in bed with your professor naked after a night of drinks...or waking up in a jail cell in your boxer shorts only and having the home video recording of all teh misdemeanors you committed the night beofre played back in court...There are a lot of urban legends which put SERIOUS blushes on peoples face.

Tokyo can be a pretty wild town, as wild as any in the US or London or HK. Takarajima really needs to improvce the way it develops its interviewed sample.

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bully for you, Kuroyama! But are you trying to say you've not once done something forgettable while drunk?

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I'm already an old man in all this. I like to go and get my drink on like anyone else... but I know when I'm reaching "the edge". You know what Im talking about. That, if I drink one more drink I will: (miss work tomorrow, get sick, not make the last train home, get sick, get sloppy drunk, get sick, insert-your-undesired-consequence here..) So you know what magic trick I use? ...ready? ...I stop drinking.

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This just in: Coffee will keep you awake!

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it is very bad to go drunk on a date. Some men, if drunk, should use chewing gum to neutralize the alchohol smell.

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Does this call for a new JT survey --

What's the STRANGEST EXPERIENCE you've ever had while utterly BLOTTO (that you can remember)?

I bet THAT would be an epic thread. Seriously.

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ah, good old times... I am sure we all have some Roppongi story to share :D

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manfromamerica,

Hey, don't hate. Something I never would've learned in college. ;)

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so drunk people do silly things? Thanks JT!!!

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It would help if Japanese people wouldn't get raging drunk after drinking one beer.

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i think that this kind of behavior is natural, since the person is compeletely dazy and has no conytrol over his or her doings.

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Eat lots of bread and butter before drinking. Also, learn to act like you are drunk - the best would be just collapse and pretend you are sleeping. Learn to induce vomit at will.

They got me through a lot of those events sober.

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All very minor-league drinking stories.

From an Aussie.

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‘Not one-half—more like one-third,’

This one made me smile. The rest of this article just made me yawn...

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Hmm, these stories are somewhat lacking in tittilation...where is the legendary foolish Japanese drunken behavior?!?!?

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why to drink if you dont know how to drink?:)

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No getting someone pregnant here or becoming pregnant?

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I really hate hangovers

If you drink often enough, you won't get hangovers. These embarrassing moments are nothing compared to what I witness in Australia...

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Light weights. Has noone ever puked into an unknown woman's handbag?

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People get embarrassed easily in Jland.

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go home to your "families"

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Is it me or do these "most embarrassing moments" seem not so embarrassing?

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What gets me every time here is the Japanese culture of never letting the glass get empty - I can never measure how much I have had and it usually doesn`t really hit you until you stand up and leave!

If the guy who gave me a bottle of water after I threw up on Roppongi station platform 8 years ago is reading this I woul just like to say thank you! Although that time was dodgy shellfish, I swear it!

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Embarrassing moments?? None. Don't drink at all, just indulge in MJ sometimes. But good luck to all. Each to their own drug!

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I've been drunk enough to send the room spinning around only 2-3 times, the second and third time caused by my weakness to refuse the pressure to drink highballs after I'd had a few beers. The first time was, I believe, caused by simply too many beers. I really hate hangovers, so I drink in moderation on the weekends.

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PS; Some also like to spend time with their kids at least once a day- instead of drinking with the same people you worked with all day (eating lunch included) ; )

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"While in a karaoke box, I took a dive on the table and spilled drinks"

Ha ha, one of the managers in my company did that at a party, and it was the funniest thing I'd seen in quite a while!

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Drinking with coworkers who are not also your friends is generally a bad idea. My sensible advice: Get drunk with close friends and then nothing is really embarrassing.

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No way. Am in real estate & overseas business-we are two different people and more than likely in two different worlds. Being an English teacher in your 20s at BBQs is one thing... Watching them burn each other with a smile while drinking with negotiations is another. They are slowly waking up to this after the last few years. I have seen tons of deals gone south and sour due to this cultural er- bonding/celebrating. Japanese with Japanese is normal as they forgive and keep their "honne" in check and then go home and whine, and then go back to work and whine some more. It takes one many years to master and protect yourself. I respect your bicultural, idealism and usual defense mate.... I simply do not like to drink with the Japanese. This does not make me a racist jerk. Of course I have friends, neighbors and even golf with a few Japanese fellas. Heavy drinking and smoking is another story. Alcoholism is misunderstood here and that is exactly what this article is about.

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my2sense, quite antisocial towards the "Japanese" aren't you? I wouldn't lump them all together like that. They aren't all your typical drunken oyaji salarymen. Make some friends, you just might have fun, like me :)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFMsZIknGTE&feature=related

The above 'Drunk Salaryman' link is priceless... Where is he going?

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Could someone explain me- why japanese are still drinking if they can not // don’t know how to drink?

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Heeeeee....I didn't realize Takarajima was still in the magazine business, thought they folded back around the mid-1990s. I often see their "mooks" in bookstores but this magazine completely escaped notice.

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Takarajima’s eminently sensible advice is to neither overindulge in drink—nor let others force it upon you.

Sometimes it's so hard to not let people force it upon you. I always hate that about going to enkais and having everyone in the office come over to pour me a drink after I've said multiple times that I don't want to, in the most polite way possible. I've learned to just sip a little and let them pour instead of lecturing me about how this is "the Japanese way" and if I don't drink, I'm not being a good participant, haha. Thankfully halfway through the majority of them get too drunk to pay attention to the fact that I'm not drinking.

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Put it this way.... I DO NOT drink with the Japanese nor care to. Not only is it boring...theyre quite goofy, immature and the whole guchi giri thing gets old. It took me a week to figure this out 13 years ago. However they dont seem to start brawls and bar fights very often. Drinking with a few mates and out on the town is fun as hell and safe. Oddly- Tokyo is still my favorite place to go for a few or get wasted within reason. I recommend salaryman japanese drunk on YouTube for a laugh and to see the above. The only not funny bit is when they fall off the platform.... Like B. Murray told the guy in LIT....stick to beer.

.

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If Japan wanted to jumpstart the economy, it would make a public intoxication law and fine offenders 15,000 Yen.

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