How many Japanese street signs do you understand? This is what "Standing on the Wheel" means

When traveling in Japan, you will definitely see many street signs on the road. These signs have kanji, hiragana, and katakana, and I seem to understand them but I’m not sure what they mean. For example, "Standing on the Wheel", "Witnessing Chapter 110", and "Forbidden to Leave", what exactly do they mean? I’ll sort it out and tell you!

"Witnessed, 110!": If you see it, call 110!

Anyone who has been to Japan should be impressed by this sign! The bright eyes are staring at you, and it says "目撃したら, Chapter 110" written on it. In fact, this means, "If you see someone doing something bad, call 110 to report it." 110 is the dialing number for the Japanese police station, and "fan" is the abbreviation of "number" in Japanese.

This sign also has more Japanese words, such as "criminal を见出さない" written above the eyes, which means "do not miss any crime." The following "Illegal dumping is a crime, punishment is not more than 5 years, and fine is not more than 10 million yen" means "It is a crime to dump garbage, and the person will be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, and fine is not more than 10 million yen." This sign is posted in general residential areas to warn people not to dump household waste on the road.

"Drinking on the road, stop drinking on the road": Do not gather and drink on the road

The sign "drinking on the road" literally means "drinking on the road". Generally refers to drinking. Because drinking culture is prevalent in Japan, "drinking" is often used to refer to drinking. " Drink on the road, stop drinking on the road" means don't drink on the road.

The sign also says "New COVID-19 Infectious Disease Countermeasures" (COVID-19 Infectious Disease Countermeasures), which means that this sign is for epidemic prevention and tells everyone not to gather outside to drink. For example: Do not drink in groups at stations, parks, etc. to avoid infection. Others wrote "コロナは选びません" (viruses don't choose locations) and "variant viruses are 1.9 times more infective" (mutated viruses are 1.9 times more infective).

"客服きはcriminalです": It is a crime to solicit customers.

This sign often appears in Shinjuku Kabukicho and Shibuya downtown areas. "Kebaiき" means to attract customers, which means soliciting customers.

Shinjuku Kabukicho is famous for its custom industries and there are also many izakayas. Shibuya is crowded with people, and there are many restaurants and izakayas, so part-time workers are often hired to attract customers on the road. However, in fact, each prefecture and city in Japan has its own laws and regulations. It is clearly stated that if you hold the other person or prevent the other person from moving forward when soliciting customers, it will violate the "Confusion Prevention Ordinance" (Prevention of Harassment Ordinance) and is a crime. In addition to the fine, jail time may be possible. These signs are meant to warn of soliciting behavior in downtown areas.

"ポイ屋て Prohibition": It is prohibited to throw away garbage and cigarette butts

You can guess what the "ポイ屋て" on the sign means by looking at the picture on the left: casually throwing away garbage and cigarette butts. Throw away bottles, cans, and cigarette butts.

The katakana "ポイ" is actually an adjective, also known as an onomatopoeia, pronounced "poi", which refers to the sound of a small thing falling when it falls. Japanese people would say "ポイッと屋てる" to describe littering small things, such as bottles, cigarette butts, chewing gum, etc. Later it was shortened to "ポイ屋て". When traveling in Japan, remember to abide by the regulations and don’t throw away trash.

"Standing on the wheel for the long term": Please do not park your bicycle here

This warning will appear in many places on the streets of Japan: "Standing on the wheel for the long term", "Standing on the wheel" "Prohibited" etc.

"Parking the wheel" means to stop the bicycle. In Japanese, the bicycle is simply called "wheel". The Japanese word for parking a car is "parking", so the parking lot is called "parking lot" in Japanese.

Therefore, parking for a long time means "don't stop the bicycle." Japan has many tram lines and convenient transportation, so more people use bicycles to travel with trams than motorcycles, which is why there are so many signs related to "parking wheels."

The Japanese marked above are organized into a table below for everyone to confirm better!

Isn’t it interesting that Japan’s street signs read “Foresight on Wheels”, “Witness 110”, and “Prohibited”? If you want to know more Japanese knowledge, just watch the special episode of "Travel Japanese Classroom"!

How many Japanese street signs do you understand? This is what "Standing on the Wheel" means! | Lechigo! Japan