The Japanese Love Mayonnaise

There are certain things the Japanese just seem to really like for reasons that are difficult for foreigners to understand. Like the Carpenters, whose music seems to be far more popular here than in the U.S. Or Colombo, whose crime-solving gruffness is popular enough that he can still be seen regularly on TV here. Another thing the Japanese like a lot is…mayonnaise! It’s true: the Japanese love mayonnaise and put it in salads, on traditional Japanese dishes like Okonomiyaki, and even on pizza and french fries (often alongside ketchup, so you can dip your fries in either or both). A person who loves mayonnaise is known as a mayoler in Japanese, and this is a joke that pops up in anime from time to time. Last week there was some bizarre news from the Kansai area about a rash of attacks by a deranged 25-year old male who was attacking random people by squirting mayonnaise down their shirts. Happily the dangerous villain has been safely apprehended, making Japan safe for us all once again.

If you like mayonnaise, you should come to Japan right now.