Twitter user Derek Wessman is a genius to have spotted (and appropriately translated) these brilliantly vandalized Japanese missionary signs that change the word “god” into the word “cat” by removing a few small strokes.
“The kingdom of Cat is close at hand”
And they just get better!
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“Both earth and man are Cat’s”
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“Cat doth watch thee in thy private life”
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“Cat doth punish sin”
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“Fear and honor thy Cat”
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“The day of the righteous judgement of Cat is close at hand”
These dire warnings appear on buildings throughout Japan, put there by American missionaries of the grim “scare people straight” ilk. I only put a few here—there are many more funny ones in Derek Wessman‘s Twitter feed, and Mutantfrog has an excellent history of this odd attempt at proselytizing, if you want to explore in more depth.
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And if you’d love some fresh escapist reading…
“An immersive page-turner, meticulously researched and perfectly plotted. Without question, the best book I have read all year.” —Susan Spann, author of the Hiro Hattori mysteries and CLIMB
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly newsletter Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had