Tuesday, July 5, 2016

ワンは持ち帰りましょう。

This is a popular sign around every town in Japan since dog ownership has become a growing trend amongst the young and old in cities and suburbs.




フン - Dog poop

持ち帰りましょう(もちかえりましょう)- Take home

Translations: Take home your dog's poop.


We see another style here:




犬(いぬ)- Dog
の - Possession particle
フン - Dog poop
持ち帰ろう - Take home

条例 (じょうれい) - Regulations, Rules, Laws
により- According to, In accordance with
違反した者 (いはんしたしゃ) - Person who violated, in violation
5万円 (ごまんえん) - Fifty Thousand Yen; about 500 dollars if 100¥=$1
以下 (いか) - Or below, less
の - Possessive particle
罰金 (ばっきん) - Fine, Penalty
に - Particle for direction
処せられる (しょ) - Condemn, Punish
こと - Particle to soften a judgment
が - Particle to designate the subject of the sentence
あります - To have or There is
Translation: Take home your dog poop. In accordance with the law a person in violation will be punished with a fine of 50,000 Yen or less.

Dog poop is a serious issue in Japan. It's a country where people do a lot of walking; on the street, in the park, etc., and if there is dog shit all over the place it's a real nuisance just like in any other city in the world.

Notes
ワン in these signs are being used to refer to dog poop, わんわん is the sound a dog makes, the onomatopoeia of barking and what children call a dog because they don't know the word 犬. It's also めっちゃかわいいですよ。

持ち帰ります is the phrase you use in cafes, restaurants or fast food joints for take out. If you want to eat in you should say,  店内で (てんない) meaning 'in the store'.

違反者 is the word for violator or criminal, but in this sign they put した, the past of する, making it a past verb. They probably didn't have to do that, 違反者 should be enough to convey the message they want to get across. Although, I could be wrong so if I am please send an email or leave a comment at the bottom to let me know. Thank you.

以上です、

ジョシュア

Subscribe to Death By Kanji by Email

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

落書きは犯罪です。




落書き (らくがき) - Graffiti, Scribble
は - Particle that marks the topic of the sentence
犯罪 (はんざい) - Crime, Offense
です - Particle that ends a sentence

見つけ (み) - To come across, To find
次第 (しだい) - As soon as, Immediately (upon)
警察 (けいさつ) - Police
へ - Particle for going to a place or direction
の - A particle that marks a possessive, but can also substitutes for 'が' in subordinate phrases to mark the subject of the sentence, possibly because へが is a weird sound to make
通報 (つうほう) - Report, Notify
や - Particle for 'and' in a list 
法的手段 (ほうてきしゅだん) - Legal means, legal action
を - Particle that links the noun with the verb
とる事 (こと) - To take
も - Particle for also
あります - Verb that means to have or that there is

やめよう - Stop, Quit
犯罪
行為 (こうい) - Act, Conduct

兵庫県 - Hyogo Ken
中 (なか) - Middle
播磨県 - Harima Province 
民 (みん) - Citizens
センータ - Center
姫路 (ひめじ) - The city of Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture
農林水産 (のうりんすいさん) - Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery
振興 (しんこう) - Promotion, Encouragement 
事務所 (じむしょ) - Office

連絡先 (れんらくさき) - Contact information

Translation: Graffiti is a crime.  Notify the police as soon as you come across and to also take legal action against it. Stop criminal acts! Middle Hyogo Prefecture, Harima Province citizens center. Himeji Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery Promotion Office. Contact this number. 

The picture in this sign is self explanatory. A punker with a spray can spraying a red 'don't' across himself signifying 'no spray painting' also known as graffiti. Japan has a huge graffiti problem, but is also cool. The problem is the 'tags' around the city. A tag is a painted symbol that back in the day represented a gang name or a signature of the artist. Most gangs used tags to designate territory. The real graffiti artists, also known as street artists, aren't that much of a problem. I've seen some cool manga style graffiti and classic giant letter style graffiti that you might find in America or Europe. You don't find much of the Bansky or Shepard Fairey style of political, thought provoking stencil cut outs around the city, or not in Osaka, Tokyo might be a different story.

In the part of Himeji I found this sign, there was a long concrete wall separating the sea and the beach from the houses and buildings on the other side. Prime real estate for the graffiti artist, although an easy target. Graffiti artists like to show off not just their ability to express themselves with spray paint, but also their ability to get to hard to get to places; on the under side of bridges, on the top of buildings, on the top of billboards, behind, across and wherever they can reach. It's a lifestyle.

I'm not condemning it, I like Bansky, Fairey and other creative street art. When I lived in Yokkaichi an American style bar open up and the owner paid a famous Tokyo graffiti artist to come and paint the whole building, inside and out. He painted popular movie stars and New York scenery and one wall even had the Grand Canyon. It was pretty cool. What I don't like are tags. Tags are equivalent to people throwing their garbage on the street, except a lot harder to clean up. It's not pretty or artistic. It's ugly, it's trash, it's bathroom art. You're not making a point or being edgy. You're not contributing anything when you tag a sign or electrical box. You're creating eyesores around the community and causing governments to spend our tax dollars to clean it up instead of returning it back to me where it belongs. So please, やめよう!I need a new cell phone.

以上です。

ジョシュア

Subscribe to Death By Kanji by Email

Friday, June 3, 2016

不法投棄禁止




不法 (ふほう) - Lawlessness, Injustice; Illegal
投棄 (とうき) - Throwing away, Dumping
禁止 (きんし) - Stop; Prohibited

見てます。 (み)てます - Look, Watch, Observe

違反 (いはん) - Violation (of law), Infringement
すれば - Hypothetical form of する
法律 (ほうりつ) - Law
により - According to, Because of
処罰 (しょばつ) - Punishment
されます - Passive voice of する

姫路市 (ひめじし) - Himeji City
警察署 (けいさつしょ) - Police Station

Translation: Stop illegal dumping. You will be punished if caught in violation of the law. We are watching. Himeji City police station.

I found this sign in, you guessed it, Himeji. I went to visit the Himeji castle and decided to take a trip on the Sanyo line down to the beach. From the station to the water I passed this large park with this sign. At first glance, it looks like a warning to watch out for big cats or other ferocious animals. But we know 禁止 is Stop or No, we see that a lot in signs for 'no smoking' 喫煙禁止 or 禁煙. So it had to be something else. After translating it, I still didn't understand the use of the eyes. A police man with large binocular eyes would of been better, more informative for the passive or illiterate viewer. Those slanted yellow menacing eyes make it feel like something is out there lurking, waiting for the best opportunity to pounce on a lonely traveller.

以上です。

ジョシュア


Subscribe to Death By Kanji by Email

Friday, May 20, 2016

歩きスマホ


スタッブ - Stop
歩き (ある) - Walk, Walking
スマホ - Smart phone
次 (つぎ) - Next
は - Particle for the Subject, Topic of the sentence
あなた - You
が - Particle for the doer of the action
加害者 (かがいしゃ) - Assault; Damaging (someone)
者 (しゃ) - Person
に - Particle
なる - To Become
かも - May, Might, Perhaps, Maybe, Probably

Translation: Stop walking with your smart phone. Next time you might become a perpetrator.

A better translation would be, 'Stop walking while looking at your smart phone. You might just kill someone.' The poster uses 歩きスマホ which doesn't include 見に to look at, but implies it. Because what else do you do with a smart phone? You stare at it and you touch it. This has become such a big problem all over the world, even in the train stations of Japan. 

'DON!' is the onomatopoeia for hitting or running into something. It's used by comedians and for comedy purposes mostly, but a little more sinister in this context.

以上です。

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

故障中



故障 (こしょう)- Damage, hurt, failure
中 (ちゅう)- In, middle, center
故障中 (こしょうちゅう)-Out of order; In repair

故障 usually pairs with the verb する 'to do'. But here in this sign we see 中 which indicates it's something is 'going on right now'. 電話中 is 'on the phone'. So this sign is telling us the toilet is 'in failure' or 'out of order'.

 Subscribe to Death By Kanji by Email