Signs from Japan

Before I finish the Japan chapter of my blog--I left Tokyo at the end of 2020 to start a job in the US--I have one additional post. After organizing my photos I realized that I had amassed quite a few pictures of amusing or quirky signs from my 16 months in Tokyo. I hadn't intentionally sought them out, but would occasionally stumble upon them when walking around the city or traveling further afield. There were plenty more funny signs or clunky English translations I didn't photograph. Now I wish I had intentionally catalogued them; as those who have spent much time in Japan probably know, they aren't hard to find. I hope you enjoy the ones I saved:

Warning sign along a stream near Oji Station. The warnings 

often look like a cute anime combined with a horror film.

Speaking of horror film, this is a warning at the Giza Banta Cliff 

in Okinawa (the top says "It's dangerous! Don't go here")

Oh, a cute dog...wait, looks like it is drowning! The sign says "Dangerous, don't play here"

Fortunately this cute dog has a more benign message. On a side note, 

people are great about picking up animal poop, and most also 

bring a bottle of water to spray down any pee to mask the smell

What a kind message; tsunamis are very fragile, treat them carefully!

Most parks and public spaces will have signs telling us what not to do; Japan is 

a very rules-based society, and the rules often come in the form of admonishments.

Is the stick figure falling or trying to karate kick the determined cyclist?

This one looks like the skateboarder is trying to give the 

guy an elbow; I say the collision was intentional!

This one isn't even Japanese; it was on the wall outside 

the German Embassy near Hiro-o Station

Although not as bad as in China, a lot of shops botch English translations (this is very 

common on menus). Japanese stereotypically can't distinguish between the English "l" 

and "r" sounds, so this actually is an accurate phonetic translation! Also, I found it 

funny that many shops advertised or listed information in English, even though most 

Japanese don't speak it; more can understand it by reading, but still seems strange 

that this sign is only in English.

Another l/r mix-up, at the Shibuya city gym

It always surprised me that someone would put a translation on the main sign of their 

storefront without double checking for errors. This was in Ishigaki, near the port.

This one is outside a convenience store at Tokyo Station

I guess this is one way to correct a mistake

(a shop along Kaneda Bay on the Miura Peninsula)

This one is an advertisement for a dental clinic in Tsuchiura (says "Spend a day

in a healthy"). I wonder how many people out in the far reaches of the Tokyo area

actually would be able to understand an English marketing campaign, even if

it was intelligible to native speakers.

One example of a menu translation

For those of you who speak Spanish, this café

is one letter away from a very different meaning

I think this meaning is also quite different. Pawn and 

sell sounds right, but you never know in Tokyo!

An underpass near to Yoyogi-Uehara Station was painted with

different types of birds. Apparently this is the real name in English,

but it's still funny to me (I know I have a simple sense of humor!)

Another sign that I chuckled at, but the translation is (mostly) accurate. It actually 

says, don't go without a "swimsuit" instead of clothes, but the general meaning is the 

same...which leads me to ask, who was walking around naked on Taketomi Island?

This sign is grammatically accurate. "Being a public nuisance" is kind of funny,

but I took a photo because of the stick figure on the top left, with a beer bottle

and a tie around his head (hard to see the detail). Crazy salaryman!

On an underpass near Shibuya. I guess some would call graffiti scribbling.

A bathroom sign; someone went very casual with the "standing piss"

Seems like something Tosh might feature on an "is this racist"

bit. Maybe it's just my American sensitivity.