Wednesday, June 06, 2007

signs

Sometimes walking around Japan, you just have to laugh at some of their signs. I sometimes wonder where they are looking up the meanings to some of the words or phrases that they use. There are also signs with major spelling errors which I can't believe people actually paid someone for!

Like the car dealership that was in our neighborhood called "Risky". They were selling high-end cars like Mercedes & BMW's...When I first laughed at this sign, Satoshi couldn't understand why. He then looked up the meaning and understood...they eventually went out of business..I thought they were a little suspicious, don't you??

While walking around Kyoto last week, I found these signs. SNOB corporation, after googling, I found out that they are a hair salon. With haircuts starting at $60 (the average price here is $30) and coloring touch ups at $80 (the average price for a touch-up here $40) and to have them style your hair after a cut at $15, you too can become a hair snob...where is Fantastic Sam's or Supercuts when you need one?

Another one was Bruce-Pee, I would be a bit cautious about buying clothes from a place that has pee in their name, wouldn't you? Plus, on the second level there is the Ill Store (I googled and found out that ill is the slang for "good")...although you may become ill from the pee clothes...

And as if everything isn't expensive already, the price of some everyday items went up 6-10% on June 1st here in Japan. Here is a list of what they mentioned...TP (toilet paper), tissue (hmm, I wonder if this will put a stop to the free ones?), coffee, dry cleaning and mayonnaise. Part of the reason is the rising fuel costs and also the popularity of biofuels. As of today, they have just added corn and soy beans to the list, soon we won't have anything to eat!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

bruce pee! too funny. -bourgogne

K and S said...

thought you might like that one, Bourgogne!

Thanks for stopping by. Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

You are right. Signs can be hilarious when translated in other languages.

K and S said...

Thanks Bea and thanks for stopping by.

Take care.
Kat

Jann said...

Sign are written sometimes without thinking~how about ," free range eggs, 2$ a dozen"......we laughed so many times when we saw this in New Zealand!

K and S said...

I think you are right about the not thinking Jann. That sign in NZ is pretty funny.

Take care.
Kat

ilingc said...

We saw a "Do not scribble" at Himeji Castle" and "A door is automatic and opens and closes it. Please do not hit handle here" on the Hakone Ropeway cable cars. :)

Sometimes you've just got to smile when you see these signs.

K and S said...

You are right, Ilingc!

Take care.
Kat

Monique said...

We went to a Vietnamese restaurant yesterday and there were some pretty mistakes on their menu... *sigh* these places should really hire proofers.

K and S said...

I wouldn't mind working as a proof reader myself, Monique.

Take care.
Kat