The whole of Japan is pure invention - Oscar Wilde.

I found this quote sometime last year when I was researching Japan, but I can't find any sources for it, other than an article in Time Magazine. I'm going to go ahead and assume (guess) that Time magazine didn't just make it up and attribute it to him.

Anyway, before I came to Japan I really liked this quote because it seemed to me to be true. Before you actually experience another country you can only rely on your own imagination and second hand evidence.

I think what Oscar Wilde actually meant was something similar to what I said. That people who have never been to a country will invent and propagate (spread) rumours about it.

Although, Oscar Wilde was probably incoherent (drunk) with opium or absinthe when he said this quote, so i'm sure he had no idea what he meant by it. I think Michael Hutchence had the same thing with the quote "I am the lizard king. I can do anything.".

Edit: A lot of the vocabulary i've used is very hard, so in the interest of anyone Japanese/Studying English who reads it, i'll add easier vocab.
このブログの言葉本当に難しいと思う。だから日本人/英語を勉強の人のためにもっとかんたんの言葉も書きます。

Also, here's an awesome quote by oscar wilde:
"I have made an important discovery... Alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities (large amounts), produces all the effects of intoxication (being drunk)".