#1 Still Trying To Determine If This Is A List Of Available Amenities Or The Names Of Alternative Rock Bands That Have Stayed Here
We got in touch with the creator of the group and they were kind enough to tell us more about it.
"Over 13 some-odd years, and with Facebook's introduction of auto-moderation tools, it's not too heavy of a moderation burden," they explained to Bored Panda.
However, "We have three standard questions that users must answer to become a member, and they're supposed to read and agree to the guidelines. Only about a quarter of people who want to join the group actually do this, and of them, less than half actually answer them correctly. They're all declined quickly."
Therefore, "the most common issues are simply rejecting or blocking users who don't answer the questions or are spammers," the group's creator said.
#3 Don’t Skateboard Or Whatever. You Know What We Mean, Don’t Make Me Write It All Out. All That Stuff You Do
"Similarly, with posts, if they don't follow the guidelines, they are rejected," the creator of 'Engrish in Japan' added.
"If their intentions are good and they clearly read the guidelines, we try to give them a short explanation of what they need to fix."
With all of that being said, moderation still remains a constant work in progress. "I've probably revised the guidelines and questions over 100 times ... I relaxed certain rules or added more if there was a recurring issue."
#6 On A T Shirt In Osaka, Unsure What This Is Supposed Say But I Love It
#9 Joined The Group Just To Post This - Everyone Needs To Know The Truth
Every now and then, the group also receives a guest appearance, and they're not just sad trolls. "We get non-Japanese who just want to be jerks or are spammers but, amazingly, we get many Japanese who think it's an English study group!"
However, while you're scrolling through the pictures, it's important to understand that the content isn't meant to insult the locals. In fact, "another common issue is making it clear that we're not making fun of anyone and we appreciate the intent," the creator of 'Engrish in Japan' said. "Most Japanese understand this just fine; it's white knight foreigners who sometimes have trouble grasping this."
"We make it a rock solid policy to not post any photos of people unless people want to post photos of themselves. We also make sure any personal information is blurred or cropped."
When it comes to the posts themselves, the group's creator said they’re mostly different takes on a set of recurring themes, like common misspellings, things you wouldn’t think twice about if you’ve been in Japan for any extended time, and some that aren’t particularly funny or interesting but just fit the theme.
The popularity of the group reflects a 2024 report in which Japan ranked 92nd in global English proficiency—last in the "low proficiency" category, escaping the "very low" category by less than one percent. The nation ended up near the bottom of Asian and developed countries alike. (For context, in 2019, Japan ranked 53rd.)
Experts suggest there can be many possible reasons for this, and the sheer difference between two languages certainly plays a role—whereas German and English are closely related, Japanese and English have extremely distinct vocabulary, writing systems, and sentence structure.
Teachers in Japan have pointed to English classes’ strict correspondence to university entrance examinations as a major cause of their students’ poor proficiency. They argue that the focus on exams leads to over-emphasizing grammar as well as boring, memorization-oriented classes.
Studies also suggest that Japanese culture's aversion to risk-taking leads many students to be reluctant to push their limits, especially in speaking, which is essential for language learning.
