Take my breath away

It is very possible that Japanese salary men and obachans (old women) have the foulest breath on the planet. Never be caught on a packed train with one of these malodorous offenders, because their breath will slam you against the walls of Hell quicker than you can say "Damn, what's that sm....".

I discovered that this phenomena has a popular name - "Oyaji-Rot" (Father Rot). More than anything I was relieved that I was not the only one to have experienced it and that it really is as hideous as I imagined.

"Oyaji Rot" is apparently caused by poor diet (basically meat, fish and rice), a daily overload of alcohol and cigarettes and a derelict approach to dental hygiene (consisting of toothpicks rather than floss). Brew this with stress and the extreme humidity at the moment, and you got yourself a fetid cocktail that could liquidate a small nation.

Yesterday morning on the train, a particularly rank human being pressed himself up against me (oh! the bliss of the early morning sardine tin!) and he was certainly not shy about sharing his asthmatic funk with his fellow commuters. It is my firm belief that packed trains bring out the worst in people (such sins as pushing, shoving, grabbing vacated seats while old or pregnant folk are standing and gawking at foreigners among them) but this has to be up there among the worst.

The thing that kills me is a comment made to me by my (very odd Japanese) dentist a few months ago;

"Why don't foreigners ever floss?"