"Why Japanese People?!"

There is a foreign comic here, by the name of Jason, who begins his routine in Japanese discussing some element of language or culture that he's observed. At some point, perhaps when he's exposed some logical inconsistency, he goes into a rant, in English. He brings his clenched fists to his face and shouts, "Why Japanese People, Why?!"

I found it funny the first time. And continue to find it funny that others continue to find it funny. "Why Japanese people?" It's really a single joke following a changing and intricate set up. The setup itself is interesting because it exposes Japan through a foreign eye. It's the sort of thing I'd like to read in an essay, or perhaps even a blog. Now that I've seen the rant once, I can just remember that part.

Actually, I suspect part of his appeal is that, even with his single joke, he's still funnier than some of the local talent. Add that to the interesting set up, and viola, a star is born.

I do think Jason's line of questioning is natural though, for a foreigner. When you've spent your entire life thinking one way of doing things is normal, and then encounter others who do something quite different, it can be startling.

In the particular case of language inconsistencies, Guy Deutscher points out in his masterpiece, The Unfolding of Language, that part of what causes languages to evolve is the human desire to regularize things. Schoolmarms insist that funner is not a word, but most of us think it should be, based upon the rest of the language, so gradually it is gaining acceptance, much to their chagrin. 

This is a normal process, but in our native languages the inconsistencies don't strike us as all that odd, we've lived with them since birth. In a foreign language though, time is compressed, you're seeing in a short time myriad odd things so it's easy to find some that you might have done differently, had you designed the language from scratch. Fodder for the likes of Jason, I suppose.