CheapyD over at CheapAssGamer highlights the absurdity of the Japanese DS manual by pulling out some of the strangest warnings from it.
Why do people need to be warned against putting their DS in a fire? Or against pouring beverages onto it? Or against stepping on it? Or dropping it? Or stabbing themselves in the mouth with the stylus?
Japan isn't a litigious society, so these warnings weren't produced to keep the company from getting sued. It's probably more of a tutorial on how to treat handheld electronics responsibly and is probably intended for new handheld owners—children in particular, and older adults too. Who among us would hand a kid a $100+ dollar device without first giving him some sort of lesson on how to treat it? The manual provides parents with a teacher's guide of sorts.
[Warning, links to DS manual PDF]
