5...3...1...2... oh, forget it

I thought Japanese were good at maths. Years of being sent to abacus school as a child at the insistence of grandma, plus the high denominations of cash you need (can you believe around ¥270 for a can of Suntory Malts at our local 7-11) should have instilled a healthy command of the things. But I'm beginning to think folks here have a problem when the numbers are more, er, little. It's not rocket science counting backwards from 10, but the chap in charge of numbering the parking spaces near our 7-11 clearly shouldn't be given the job of counting down for blast off. Must have been at the Malts again.