[Hilarious] Salaryman Senryu That Make You Laugh Out Loud: A Full Showcase of Self-Deprecating and Funny Verses

Cheap smartphone, and my dad’s allowance

Smartphones have become so ingrained in our daily lives that it’s hard to remember a time without them.

There was a period when many people switched to budget carriers as prices at the major carriers surged.

This senryu humorously compares those budget smartphones to a father’s allowance, treating them the same.

Given that salaries aren’t rising easily these days, it can’t be helped—but many fathers probably find their allowances cut by their wives.

It’s the kind of senryu that makes you nod along and say, “So true.”

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sasashina

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Work tomorrow?! My wife’s voice suddenly sounds lively.

It seems there are wives who treat the hours when their husbands are at work as their own free time.

They probably spend it cleaning, shopping, or having tea with friends.

Some might also feel that it’s a chance to work without worrying about their husbands.

In other words, because they are always supporting their husbands, they value the time when they’re not around.

They might even look pleased when there’s an unexpected day their husband has to go into work.

However, perhaps it would be good to pay a little more attention to things at home?

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Nakajima Junko

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Eighty percent full—the remaining twenty percent is ginger and tea.

Hara-hachibu means stopping eating before you’re full—using about 80% fullness as a guide—so you don’t overeat.

Making this a habit is considered good for your health because it helps prevent obesity and improve lifestyle-related diseases.

In this senryu, it seems the person enjoyed sushi up to hara-hachibu and then ate gari (pickled ginger), which serves as a palate cleanser and can help prevent food poisoning.

It’s a verse that shows they’re enjoying sushi while being mindful of their health.

It’s also kind of amusing if you think of the remaining “two-tenths” both as the leftover capacity and as a playful nod to sushi often being served as two pieces (nigiri in pairs).

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The sushi toppings with market price labels that I can’t bring myself to order

One thing you often see at high-end sushi restaurants without conveyor belts is the term “market price.” Since it means the price changes depending on the moment, you can’t help but worry, “Could it be really expensive…?” The author of this senryu probably felt the same way.

The value of wild seafood fluctuates greatly with the catch, making it difficult to display fixed prices; that’s why it’s listed as market price.

You want to enjoy delicious sushi, but that “market price” label stands in your way… It may be a dilemma born from being used to conveyor-belt sushi.

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sasashina

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“Cleaning in progress” Is there despair like this?

You’re desperately looking for a restroom and finally think you’ve found one—only to see a “Cleaning in Progress” sign hanging there… That is an unmistakable moment of despair.

After all, needing to relieve yourself is a physiological reaction; even if you know you shouldn’t, it’s not something you can just stop.

If you’re an adult, you might still have the leeway to look for the next restroom, but if it’s a small child, isn’t that basically game over right then and there? And if you don’t have a change of clothes, the despair is probably doubled…

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sasashina

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Terrible twos negotiation skills skyrocketing

Just as the phrase “the terrible twos” suggests, children go through a ‘no-no’ phase around age two.

They may say “No” to Mom and Dad’s prompts or throw tantrums.

It can be exhausting to deal with this phase.

This senryu captures how, over time, parents get better at responding to their child’s “no-no” and improve their prompts, likening those prompts to negotiation skills in a work setting—a touch of humor.

You can almost picture proposing options to a boss or client: “How about this? What do you think of that?” Like this senryu, it might help to add a bit of laughter to the challenges of parenting.

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Nakajima Junko

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