San Kyu!

~For the past few days, I've noticed a lone line of people waiting outside of a cake shop in downtown Nagaoka. Not being able to read the promotional sign, I had no idea what everyone was waiting for as the line moved along at a glacial pace. Fortunately, one of my coworkers explained to me that the shop was having a special "customer appreciation" sale: only ¥39 for one of their small cakes (about 32¢). I'd buy one myself if I didn't have to wait in line for an hour.

Why ¥39? In Japanese, the number thirty-nine is pronounced "San-juu kyu"; the number three is "san" and nine is "kyu" (juu is ten). So, the numbers three and nine said individually would be "san kyu".

Try saying it: "san kyu" sounds like "thank you" using Japanese pronunciation. This is part of the cake shop's customer appreciation gimmick. And I'll bet you thought my Japanese puns were bad! ~Oyasumi.