Passed along to me by a colleague in Kyoto, a lovely, charming, and politically incorrect overview on how the citizens of various countries respond to humor (originally published in “Look Japan,” January 1988):
“One often-told joke, of which the Japanese are very fond, goes as follows:
— When a Frenchman hears a joke, he laughs when the joke is only halfway through.
— When an Englishmen hears a joke, he waits until it is finished and then laughs.
— When a German hears a joke, he philosophizes over it all night and then laughs
the next morning.
— When a Japanese hears a joke, he only just smiles, because he doesn’t understand it.
— When an American hears a joke, he smiles, and then tells you that’s an old joke and, besides, you didn’t tell it right.”
