公園で

This is a funny sign I saw at the park I take my preschool students to in the afternoon.

公園は　（こうえん）- The park

犬　（いぬ）- Dog

ネコ- Cat

の- Possessive particle

トイレ- Toilet

では - Particle for 'At'

ありません- is not

Translation: The park is not a toilet for dogs and cats.

Down at the bottom in red:

That first word I can't read very well from the picture and can't remember, when I go back to the park I will update.

マナー - This is katakana for Manners

を - A linking particle 'noun to verb'

守って（まもって）- To protect or guard

飼いましょう（かいましょう）- Keep, in ～しょう form adds a meaning of 'Let's'

Translation: Let's keep and protect our manners.

This sign must be helpful because there is rarely any dog poo around. The Japanese are pretty good at cleaning up after their pets. Unfortunately, this park gets overcrowded with high school students in the evening who throw trash on the ground, break bottles and probably use it as a toilet. Young Japanese are not learning to be responsible for their behavior or respect for their environment. In Japan it is true that if you make a mess somebody will probably come along and clean it up. Young Japanese are becoming or have become ungrateful for this service and abuse it when ever possible. On the other hand, with Japan's lack of trash boxes in public places like in parks, on the street, and sometimes in the station it's hard to just blame the Japanese for being messy when you have nowhere to put your trash and of course I'm not going to carry it around with me, but rumor is they're the same way at home where mom's clean up everything, cooks dinner, does the laundry, etc. It makes sense why children never move out. This isn't just a Japanese problem it happens in America, England, Canada and other places. We've been raised as a generation of privilege, but now it feels as that hole of privilege we've been digging has gotten too deep and now we can't see the light. It's our own fault. We've made it too easy to be irresponsible with money, food, and trash. And now, our children have learned from us the art of privilege and demand more of it, especially in societies that are falling apart and can't support privilege anymore.

This is just an observation and of course doesn't apply to everyone. Please comment with your opinion about Kanji, Japan, Japanese, or whatever.

ジョシュア

コンビにのサイン

This picture was taken outside of a convenient store in Osaka. This sign is giving us the lowdown on acceptable appearance within the store.

*Particles in this post our not explained in this post, for explanation of meanings please refer to older posts or Japanese textbooks.

店内（てんない）- 'tennai' is 'store interior/inside the store'

での

ヘルメット- Written in Katakana 'herumetto' is 'helmet'

の

着用（ちゃくよう）- 'chakuyou' is a verb for 'wearing'

目出し帽（めだしぼう）- 'medashibou' is a 'cold-weather hood'

その - 'sono' is 'that'

他顔（たかお）- 'takao' is 'other face'

を

隠す（かくす）- 'kakusu' is 'to conceal' or 'cover'

ような物（もの）- 'younamono' is 'like things/objects'

の

着用（ちゃくよう）- 'chakuyou' is a verb for 'wearing'

は

ご遠慮ください（ごえんりょ）- 'goenryo kudasai' works as 'Please refrain'

不審な時（ふしんなとき）- 'fushinnatoki' is 'when suspicious', 不審な is an adjective for 'suspicious' and 時 is the noun for 'time'

は

警察（けいさつ）- 'keiastsu' is 'the police'

へ

通報させて（つうほう）- 'tsuuhou' is 'report/inform'

いただく - 'itadaku' is 'obtain'

場合（ばあい）- 'baai' is a grammar function used to indicate 'if, when, occasion, circumstance, in case'

が

ございます - 'gozaimasu' is the polite form of です which is similar to the verb 'to be'


当店（とうてん） - 'touten' is 'our/this shop'

では

お客様（おきゃくさま）- 'okyakusama' is 'customer'

の

安全（あんぜん）- 'anzen' is 'safety'

を

第一（だいいち）- 'daiichi' is 'number 1'

に

心（こころ）- 'kokoro' is 'mind/heart'

が

けています - 'keteimasu' is a verb that pairs with 心 to form a phrase that means 'to bear in mind or to aim to do.'

The translation:

Inside the store please refrain from wearing helmets, hoods. or other face concealing objects.
At the time when suspicious people are in the store the police must be notified.
Our store's number one priority is the safety of our customers.

漢字を説明します。

お帰り

こんにちは！

After a long hiatus I'm back! Some major events took place since the last time I had posted onto Death By Kanji. I had a very annoying illness that took awhile to get over, a major Earthquake and Tsunami in the Sendai/Tokyo area that caused lots of devastation and sadness throughout the country. I remember feeling the quake at work in Yokkaichi, it was very scary. I moved out of Yokkaichi a little while later over to Osaka, had my parents come for a visit, found a new job, moved into a new apartment, and have made some new friends. All the while taking pictures and learning more and more Japanese.

それじゃ、let's look at some interesting posters I found in the Imazatosuji line.


お知らせ（おしらせ）- Information
車内（しゃない）- In the car
や- A particle used for 'and'
駅構内（えきこうない）-Station premises
での- particles used for 'at' and possession meaning 'at our'
スリ- Pickpocket
被害（ひがい）- Damage
寝ている- Sleeping
人- Person
を- particle used to connect a noun to a verb
介抱する（かいほう）- Nursing, look after
など- particle used for 'etc.'
が- particle designating a secondary subject
多発しています（たはつ）- Happens frequently
手回り品（てまわりひん）- Personal effects
に- particle used for direction
ご注意（ちゅうい）- caution, be careful
ねがいます。- Please (as a favor)

駅長（えきちょう）- Station Master

Translation: Information, In the car and on station premises pickpocket damages (sleeping person is a target, etc.) happen frequently. Please be careful of your personal effects.

So this word 介抱する means 'to nurse, look after', but I don't feel the poster is asking us to 'look after a sleeping person' to prevent pickpockets, but is saying 'the sleeping person is looked after by the pickpocket' or as I translated 'a target' for pickpockets.