Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
32
(Roman, or English-language, characters);
many others do not. For places mentioned
in this topic that have only Japanese signs,
I've included an appendix of the Japanese
character names so that you'll be able to
recognize them. When you see a number
in an oval preceding the name of a restau-
rant, Japanese-style inn, or other establish-
ment, turn to “Chapter 14: A Japanese-
Character Index” and look for the
corresponding number to find the Japa-
nese character name of that establishment.
PRONUNCIATION
If you're having dif-
ficulty communicating with a Japanese-
speaker, it may help to pronounce an
English word in a Japanese way. Foreign
words, especially English, have penetrated
the Japanese language to such an extent
that they're now estimated to make up
20% of everyday vocabulary. The problem
is that these words change in Japanese
pronunciation, because words always end
in either a vowel or an
n,
and because two
consonants in a single syllable are usually
separated by a vowel. Would you recognize
terebi
as “television,”
koohi
as “coffee,” or
rajio
as “radio”?
OTHER HELPFUL TIPS
It's worth not-
ing that Japanese nouns do not have plural
forms; thus, for example,
ryokan,
a Japa-
nese-style inn, can be both singular and
plural. Plural sense is indicated by context.
In addition, the Japanese custom is to list
the family name first, followed by the
given name. That is the format followed in
this topic, but note that many things pub-
lished in English—business cards, city
brochures, and so on—may follow the
Western custom of listing family name
last.
And finally, you may find yourself con-
fused because of suffixes attached to Japa-
nese place names. For example,
dori
can
mean street, avenue, or road, and some-
times it's attached to the proper noun with
a hyphen while at other times it stands
alone. Thus, you may see Chuo-dori,
Chuo Dori, or even Chuo-dori Avenue on
English-language maps and street signs,
but they are all one and the same street.
Likewise,
dera
means “temple” and is often
included at the end of the name, as in
Kiyomizudera;
ji
means shrine.
WRITTEN ENGLISH IN JAPAN
You'll
see English on shop signs, billboards, post-
ers, shopping bags, and T-shirts. The
words are often wonderfully misspelled,
however, or used in such unusual contexts
that you can only guess at the original
intent. My days have been brightened
innumerable times by the discovery of
zany or unfathomable English. What, for
example, could possibly be the meaning
behind “Today birds, tomorrow men,”
which appeared under a picture of birds
on a shopping bag? I have treasured ash-
trays that read “The young boy grasped
her heart firmly” and “Let's Trip in Hok-
kaido.” In Matsue a “Beauty Saloon” con-
jures up images of beauties chugging mugs
of beer, while in Gifu you can only sur-
mise at the pleasures to be had at the Hotel
Joybox. I appreciated the honesty of a
Hokkaido Tourist Association employee
whose business card identified him as
working for the “Propaganda Section.”
But imagine my consternation upon step-
ping on a bathroom scale that called itself
the “Beauty-Checker.”
The best sign I saw was at Narita Air-
port many years ago. At all check-in coun-
ters was a sign telling passengers they
would be required to pay a departure tax
at “the time of check in for your fright.” I
explained the cause of my amusement to
the person behind the counter, and when
I came back 2 weeks later, I was almost
disappointed to find that all signs had
been corrected. That's Japanese efficiency.
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