I don't remember exactly where I saw this sign, but I kind of remember it being in a restroom somewhere. I do remember thinking, 'What is happening?' in this picture. And sorry that the picture is kind of blurry, I probably took this photo with my old Flip Phone Camera 10 years ago!!
扉（とびら) - Front door
に - Particle used for movement, purpose or prepositions (at, on, in, under, 等) 指（ゆび）- Finger
を - Particle connecting Noun to Verb
はさまれない - Get between, Caught in, Pinch; Verb: 挟まる; Negative potential:挟まれない
ように - Take care, Hoping or wishing for something
ご注意ください - Be Careful
Translation: Please be careful not to get your fingers caught in the front door.
小さな（ちいさな）- Small
お子（おこ）- Child, Children
様（さま）- Polite form of title
が - Subject Particle
誤って（あやって、Verb:あやまる) - To make an error, mistake
手（て）- Hand
や - and
指
を
扉
の
隙間 (すきま) - Crack, Opening, Gap
に
いれることのないよう、- Don't put it in; Verb:入れる
お気をつけください (おきをつけください) - Please be safe, careful
Translation: Children, please be careful not to put your hands and fingers in the door.
My honest feeling about this sign is: yes, it's important to warn children to not smash their fingers in the door, but the sign is saying TOO MUCH. From a design standpoint, it is too busy. The sign is designed with children reading in mind, hence it puts the Hiragana over the Kanji and sometimes omits Kanji all together for harder words; although
入れる is one of the more recognizable Kanji used for Enter on doorways in schools, department stores, parking garages and even on the street to tell you where to go.
It even has some complicated grammar using ように and adds words that are unnecessary such as 綾って and 隙間 because a more literal translation would be: Small children make the mistake of putting hands and fingers in the opening of the front door, please be careful not to put them in the opening of the front door. Which might not be correct either because I'm adding an extra "in the opening of the front door" to the sentence.
And in the picture, the child already has a bandage on their hand, yet the parent grabs them by the hand anyways. This must be another warning like, "See what happens. If you pinch your fingers, you won't be able to hold hands with mommy." This already adds more to the title of the message than the long body paragraph explanation of what is happening.
Finally, at the bottom which again is a bit blurry and hard to see, I apologize, is:
大阪歴史博物館 (おおさかれきしはくぶつかん) - Osaka History Museum
防災センター (ぼうさい) - Protection against disaster center
Translation: Osaka History Museum Protection Against Disaster Center
Now I'm starting to remember, across from Osaka Castle is the Osaka History Museum and I went there a few times to see some exhibits, which one in particular we will explore in a later translation.
それまでに、泣かないで。すぐ戻ります。
ジョシュア
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