I'm not sure what language this is written in, but I don't think it's a "Bizarre Japanese Sexual Harrassment Training Manual," as suggested by the person who posted the page. (I'm guessing it's Korean.)
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That's Korean.
Yeah--I can't translate it, but it's definitely Korean.
I'm guessing it's more along the lines of "Avoiding Sexual Harassment Through Careful Attention to Hemline Height and Observer Sight Angle (ASMTCAHHOSA)"
It looks like a geometry problem from a text book. Something about calculating the length of skirt required to ensure that passengers seated on the opposite side of the train cannot catch a glimpse of your panties.
Real-world examples are the best way to make math and science relevant to students!
Anyway, it appears to be a geometry tutorial in which the dimensions (line AB in the bottom diagram) of the female's genitalia are determined using the ratio between the two people's folded hands and the mean distance (line AC in the bottom diagram) a person holds his or her hands (folded neatly) from the torso (I'm guessing 12 centimeters).
How to calculate optimal seating distance for upskirt peaks?
If I remember my Korean correctly, the instructions for the female reader are for calculating the optimal value of AC, while those for the male reader are for calculating the optimal value of DE (70cm in this example).
I presume the next page provides instructions for tuning female response to prevent system oscillation.
I can't translate it, but it's definitely not safe for my mind while at work. (fans self)
I don't think it's a student textbook; it seems to be a guide for how long your skirt should be to avoid showing off your smalls. The skirt in the diagram appears to be 12cm which is too short.
My friendly and knowlegable Korean wife confirms Mcgrude's guess: it is in fact a how-to guide for (creepy) guys to get the best view, both in angle and distance.
If my math textbooks had presented geometry like this I might be working for NASA now.
The seats look to me like typical opposite-side-facing Seoul subway cars. Perhaps another page says this explicitly.
These are instructions for women. The perfect crotch shot for the man--not too much or too little--is when 4cm height of crotch is shown. The depth of the crotch visibility area must be 12cm, depending on lighting conditions.
Too bad it's not a manual for male foot fetishists. Just look at those gunboats!
The gentleman in question is blushing. I think that it's a sexual harassment manual to keep ladies from exposing their panties to gay men.
It's a page from a college textbook for the course "Math 101: Pythagoras For Pervs."
Re: DMCK
LOL!!!!
The unfortunate gal suffers from Peggy Hill syndrome.
I believe this is from a Jigonometry text, and it is asking the student to calculate the shortest distance from First Approach to Getting In The Panties
He does appear to be gazing directly at her hypotenuse!
did anybody else get 10√ 305?
Aww, you're not reading Joey's blog? He's one of Cory's good friends.
http://www.joeydevilla.com/2006/11/21/the-korean-math-problem-translated/
Pantelope: "I presume the next page provides instructions for tuning female response to prevent system oscillation."
Holy Crap. You win the internet. That was awesome.
His hands AREN'T folded neatly on his lap!
His hands appear to be busy!
It's from the Korean translation of one of the "空想科学大戦" books. The series is mainly about how Godzilla and Mazinger are all scientifically wrong, and how you can apply science to your daily life.
I haven't really checked, but the translation at joeydevilla.com seems to be OK; the last sentence actually ends with "in order to actually peek, you have to slide your bottom forward by an obvious margin of 45 cm."
The 空想科学読本 and 空想非科学大全 series by 柳田理科雄 is originally Japanese.
[tongue in cheek]
BTW, the distance between the man and the woman is wider for Korean subway cars, which means you wouldn't need to lower your head so much, but the increased distance is bound to be a disadvantage.
[/tongue in cheek]
Here's a scan that shows the next page -- a guy on the subway tries to sneak a peak with the help of a manual, but the woman crosses her legs, and he fails.
(From here, with more scans, but it's really slow.)
reminds me of a book called "Human Dimensions & Interior Space"... all about how to design things for a very standardized set of human bodies... perhaps this is about the flaws (or benefits) of korean subway design?
Keep your eyes on her face and no lower. To be safe, aim your eyes at her /forehead/. I rather someone stare over my head while talking to me, than at my chest.
Far too much thinking for me. Rather than scribble out formulas to determine the correct viewing angle, it would make more sense just to drop your pencil.
It's Korean translation of japaness book. The author of original book is Rikao Yanagita and the english title of this book is the primer of dream science but not found on Amazon.
The figure explains the man can't see the inside of skirt without intent to see there under that gemetry.
The language is Korean. I've seen the diagram/article in Japanese originally, a year or two ago.
Part of the math is wrong, or it has been mistranslated.
If you want a better viewing distance by sliding your bottom, you have to slide it backward (This does indeed make sense. Why?) by 70*12/4=210 -> 210-160=50cm
Leaning forward is an alternative, but not as easy to calculate, because the back does not behave like a single point joint, but it would curve in an irregular fashion, which means the head will trace an irregular shape which you'd have to intersect with the large triangle.
What a way to teach math!
Just as an aside, you can always tell Korean (like this example) from Japanese and Chinese by the small circles in the characters. While both Chinese and Japanese have closed shapes in their calligraphy, they rarely have a real circle unless it's extremely stylized.
Hi, here's an almost perfect translation - it's definitely Korean, like the other posters mentioned. I started laughing at the last two sentences... enjoy.
**********************
Miniskirt of the subway (title, far right)
Perfect fantasy science (title, top left, not too sure about this one)
(top paragraph)
From the inside of the skirt, let the point of contact between the inside of the thigh and the skirt be 4cm, and the edge of the skirt to the inside to be 12cm in length. From the side, a right angle triangle ABC forms from the "region" of "manifestation" and the skirt.
(bottom paragraph)
If BC is extended to E, where the eye of the observer is, B comes in the the field of view. if a perpendicular line is extended from E, the extension of BC, and right-angle triangle DEC is formed, it is shaped like thus. From ABC, AB is 1/3rd of AC, and thus, from DEC, DE is 1/3rd of DC. DC is the distance between the observer's eye and edge of the skirt. If this is 1.6 meters, DE, or the height of the eye is 53.3cm from the edge of the skirt. If an 170 cm tall observer sat normally, that height is 70cm. If the eyes are not lowered, 17cm, the inside cannot be seen, and in order to (make the inside of the skirt) be seen, the buttocks must be conspicuously dragged 45cm forward.
(top diagram, dotted line)
It can be seen this way)
(top diagram, thick line)
Staring zone (literal translation)
(top diagram, solid line)
It cannot be seen this way
looks like today's xkcd has a take on this issue. Or at least, is very similar
http://xkcd.com/374/
Now that we've ascertained what it says, why does it say it? Is it in favor or opposed?
Regardless of whether you can read hangul, the panels and pages are arranged in the Japanese style, from right to left. If you "read" it this way, the pictures sort of tell the story by themselves.