I've always maintained…

…that some things should really never be translated and “Spicy Pickled Pollack Ovum” definitely falls into that category:

I actually laughed out loud and had to pull out my iPhone to take this bad photo (iPhone cameras remind me of the first cell phone cameras circa 2001 minus the flash – for those of you who remember the J-Phone “Sha-Mail” function)

I don’t know…”Mentaiko Spaghetti” sounds almost cute and definitely edible and, yes, of course, if you live here you KNOW what mentaiko is, but you just don’t need to see it in naked English staring back at you on a lunch menu when you haven’t even had breakfast yet (not to mention that “roe” would be the preferred translation and “ovum” is something usually discussed with someone in a white lab coat holding a petri dish).

You get extra points (and a free plate of spicy ovum spaghetti from me) if you noticed that the badly drawn round-ish shape I managed to scrawl with my mouse somewhat resembles the sac that contains the ovum in question, which is very familiar site in every Japanese supermarket – click here if you want to see what I am talking about.

On a related note, I think I might need a Wacom Bamboo – not just to draw the outlines of the reproductive organs of fish, of course…

[Just to give credit where it's due, the scientist/lab coat/petri dish photo is from the Microsoft Clip Art Gallery]