I was looking at buying some clothes from Superdry the other day, which is a very popular clothing brand in the UK when I noticed their main logo: 極度乾燥(しなさい).

What the hell is this? What's with the brackets at the end?
It's almost as if the translator didn't know if it should be Extremely Dry or Dry Extremely well so he stuck しなさい in the end in brackets like a tool. I would have thought a company as large as Superdry could hire a translator to do a better job that that, especially considering it is their main logo which is on all their products. I understand why they couldn't use スーパードライ because of Asahi, but they could have tried a little harder!

I've also never heard of the first word 極度 is this a common word? I would have used 超乾燥 myself, but that's only because I always associate super with 超 for some reason.

Just interested in peoples thoughts on this and if anyone wears Superdry clothes. I have a few t-shirts which I wear pretty often, but I made sure not to take them with me when I went to Japan!

Just found out that another popular brand with a Japanese name: Wagamama (我が儘) means selfish or egotistical. What a great name for a Japanese restaurant! No wonder I never see any Japanese in there!

Haha, was also really confused when I was in one of its stores at an airport once.

Googled around a bit.

http://youpouch.com/2012/09/27/83649/
"どこかタイや中国あたりの路面店で売られてそうなニオイがしますけれど、れっきとした英国発のブランドであります。"
"由来は、日本語の字体に惹かれたデザイナーが、日本のビール「アサヒスーパードライ」の「Superdry」を翻訳サイトで日本語に変換して出てきたのが「極度乾燥（しなさい）」だったというなんとも拍子抜けなもの。"
So the designer just used a translating program on "superdry" because he wanted some Japanese characters on his design? Basically a reverse case of Engrish XD

Some reactions here:
http://wan2o.com/archives/51772170.html
"...と、日本でもあまり聞かない単語が製品に書かれている。"
Yeah well it's nothing compared to what you guys do.

Kewickviper Wrote:Just found out that another popular brand with a Japanese name: Wagamama (我が儘) means selfish or egotistical. What a great name for a Japanese restaurant! No wonder I never see any Japanese in there!

Hmm.. I feel like I hear Japanese people use わがまま in an almost positive way sometimes? Whereas "selfish", on the other hand, can never be used without it being negative, right? Perhaps "willful" or "getting one's own way" makes more sense in the context of a restaurant name?

Oh really? Thank you for the insight! It's hard to know the exact usage of words just from their definition sometimes! Like I see 全然 being used all the time with positive stuff like 全然違う to mean (it's) completely different.

Edit: Also that's really interesting about the creator just sticking super dry into a translator! What a nutcase! If I owned a multi million dollar company I'd at least try and get the logo right!

Yeah, reverse Engrish. I doubt that that either the CEO (Julian Dunkerton) or Chief Designer (James Holder) have even spent time in Japan, or you'd think they'd mention that somewhere in their bios to justify the inspiration.

But hey, some of their clothing designs are pretty awesome. Jeans and shirts especially. They even have the quintessential "Japanese characteristic" in that they often don't come in the right size for a 1.80m white guy like me. But I don't wear a bag or jacket with the 極度乾燥(しなさい) logo... although the GF does and I'd ask her to leave the bag at home next time we go to Japan.

It's a pity that Japanese fashion designers almost invariably opt for Western writing on their designs. I think there's a niche to be filled by a Japanese or Taiwanese designer.

It's like having "Reggae Hairstyle Rock 'n' Roll" on a T-shirt, and people in the UK think it's awesomely cool. I think those plain black jackets would be popular in 秋葉原 though.

Actually, they did spend time in Japan, and most of their designs are influenced by Japanese packaging design of the late 80s/early 90s.

That said, yes, "(Please do the) Extremely Dryness" is a pretty terrible slogan, in Japanese or English.

I actually wear their dress shirts, because British designers cut their sleeves longer, meaning they fit my long arms without going to a tailor.