Shibuya Standing Sushi Bar

元祖立食寿司、　にぎり寿司、　１ヶ７５円、　にぎりたてのお好きなネタがすぐ食べられます。
がんそりっしょくすし、　にぎりすし、　１ヶ７５えん、　にぎりたてのおすきなネタがすぐたべられます。
The originator of stand-up sushi, hand-formed sushi, 1 for 75 yen, your favourite topping stand-up hand-formed sushi can be eaten immediately.

As I said in the last post, restaurants often have heavily stylised kanji on menus and signs. This store has gone for a crystal clear font, except for the Rorschach kanji at top right. You can see 寿司 （すし） in both the weird font and the clear, one above the other. I sometimes think they try to make the kanji as disfigured as possible whilst still retaining borderline legibility. The し looks a little like a cartoon duck.

Anyway, that's some cheap sushi.

Noodles

そば、　うどん
そば、　うどん
Soba, udon

Remember, it's read right to left. I'll tell you, reading menus and restaurant signs is some of the hardest stuff. Everyone seems to prefer highly stylised scripts, so it's really difficult to make out. It's like trying to read English that's written in an ornate Gothic script. Okay for natives to do, but hell for second language learners. You can see this one is pretty easy because they are using kana, but even so, check out the 'ど'. Now imagine reading kanji written like this.

Bank

みずほ銀行
みずほぎんこう
Mizuho Bank

Mizuho is just the name of the bank.

Downloads - Dec 08

Here is the second sign pack, which runs from the 4th of August up until the 5th of December 2008. There are 80 signs included. As before there are various formats available. The pictures' folder is archived in 7z format because this type supports the preservation of the Japanese file names on each pic, whereas zip doesn't. You can get the free and open source 7Zip program here.

File details:

Excel spreadsheet, 4 fields; number, kanji, kana, English

Excel 97-03 spreadsheet, 4 fields; number, kanji, kana, English

ODS spreadsheet, 4 fields; number, kanji, kana, English

Tabbed text document, 3 fields; kanji, kana, English

Pictures only, no text, 7z format

The files are available here:

It's a (Japanese) Sign Dec 08

The Aug 08 sign pack is available here.

Dentist's

小林歯科
こばやししか
Dr. Kobayashi, dentist.

Kobayashi is just someone's surname.

Tunnel

横断地下道
おうだんちかどう
Underground passage (for crossing the road)

Garage Sign

駐車、早朝・夜間
ちゅうしゃ、そうちょう・やかん
Parking, early morning and late at night.

Illegal double parking is everywhere in Japan. People are always dropping things off, picking things up, trying to stay one step ahead of the traffic cops.

Park Ahead

注意、この先公園あり、麻布警察署、港区役所
ちゅうい、このさきこうえんあり、あざぶけいさつしょ、みなとくやくしょ
Caution, ahead there is a park, Azabu Police Station, Minato Ward Office.

I don't understand the need for this sign. It's in the back streets of Roppongi. It seems like a traffic sign, so perhaps it's to warn people that there may be kids running about. The thing is, the street it's on is really a narrow, slow moving type of street, I can't imagine anyone hooning up and down it dangerously.

Stop Button on the Bus

とまります、　お降りの方はこのボタンを押してください
とまります、　おおりのかたはこのボタンをおしてください
Stop, people who want to get off, press the button.

Real Estate Office

山中不動産
やまなかふどうさん
Yamanaka Real Estate

山中 is just a surname. A real estate agent is a 不動産屋.

Bus Station Sign

渋谷駅まで１５分
しぶやえきまで１５ふん
To Shibuya station, 15 minutes.

Library

図書館
としょかん
Library

Swing Set

注意、天気の良い日は熱くなっております。
ちゅうい、てんきのよいひはあつくなっております。
Warning, on days with good weather, this will become hot.

Some signs are useful and some are just funny. This sign was on a large, arty swing set in the park behind Tokyo Midtown. You would think that if you were designing play equipment, you would make sure said equipment didn't become blisteringly hot on sunny days, you know, when kids are likely to play on them.

Post Box

郵便
ゆうびん
Post / mail

This double crossed 'T' symbol is the postal symbol. 'T' for The Postal Service, I suppose.

Edit: Tokyo5 has kindly explained in the comments that "it's not a 'T'. It's 「〒」...it's from the katakana character 「テ」('te') for 「テガミ」 (tegami...which means 'postal letter')." Thanks, Tokyo5.

Shop Information

店舗・ご案内
てんぽ・ごあんない
Store information

Buildings are usually filled with a conglomeration of unrelated businesses, and if they are bars or restaurants they usually try to have a list at the front detailing their premises. In department stores also, when they have a floor of eating establishments, there is usually information explaining the different restaurants and their food.

My wife hates going to the department store restaurants because they invariable have only five or six choices which are the same in every department store. The usual suspects include soba, udon, tenpura, sushi, Italian, Chinese and a restaurant which seems to serve pizza and parfaits. We usually end up going to the pizza and parfait one, and getting a cornflake filled parfait. I think the cornflakes are meant to be a cheap replacement for more ice cream. I hate those cornflakes.

Car Park 2

空、　１０分　１００円
から、　じゅっぷん　ひゃくえん
Empty / vacancy, 100 Yen per 10 minutes.

Contrary to the last post, this kanji can be on its own, and is its own word. Parking is expensive in Tokyo.

Car Park

満（車）
まん（しゃ）
Full (parking lot)

They are using just the one character to show this car park to be full. However, you wouldn't see this kanji on its own usually, it's part of the word 満車 （まんしゃ）. So it's an abbreviation.

Height Limit

高さ制限２．０ｍ以下
たかさせいげんにメートルいか
Height limit 2.0 metres or less.

I saw this above someone's garage door.

Pond Sign

池の中に入らないでください。
いけのなかにはいらないでください。
Don't enter the pond.

Good advice.

Restaurant Sign

準備中
じゅんびちゅう
In preparation (not open for business)

Mostly this is out the front of restaurants, either mid-morning or mid-afternoon, while they are preparing the dishes for the next meal.

Free Taxi

空車
くうしゃ
Empty taxi

This is the one to look for when you need a taxi. I find it really difficult to see usually, because it's behind the windshield and sometimes a bit glarey. It's often just as easy to see if there is a person in the back seat or not.

Flower Shop

花
はな
Flowers

That flower is a stroke too.