It's like some kind of cosmic joke

I made an awful, infuriating discovery today.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked, Japan was a highly advanced nation, with the second-largest economy in the world. A stronghold of commercialism, with plenty of disposable income floating around.

So, why is it that the entire fricken world is going to get to see RotK before it shows in Japan?

"Surely not the entire world," you might be thinking. "What about, say, Poland?"

Your incredulity is perfectly understandable. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Poland. I'm sure it's a lovely country in its own right, and some of my best friends are of Polish descent.

But you would think, wouldn't you, that a movie like RotK would be released in Japan before Poland.

Or, for that matter, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Lebanon, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, or Uruguay.

You really would think--but you'd be wrong.

The worst part of it is, Japan's release date isn't just a little bit later than the others. We're talking February 22. That's over 3 weeks after the next latest date, January 31, which belongs to Poland. I can't believe I'd be able to see RotK earlier if I were teaching English in Poland.