1. Sidney Atkins

   January 21, 2016 at 12:48 pm

   Yes, you’re in Tokyo, but this is the entrance to a ‘Chinese’ restaurant, a little but not a lot upscale. My guess is it’s on the second floor of a large hotel and there are probably one or two other restaurants located off the same upstairs lobby, perhaps a Japanese style and a Western style one. How do I know it’s a Chinese restaurant? Lots of visual clues, although not the sign on the window which merely says “Open.”

   Japan has been called the “Empire of Signs.” I have always wondered what it would be like for most foreigners to wander through Japan not being able to read most of the signs. The first time I went to Japan I could already ready the language fairly well so I haven’t had that experience there. Perhaps the way I feel as I stroll down Commercial Drive in Vancouver past shop signs in Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Greek, or Punjabi. But that is only a few blocks in one part of a city. In Japan it is mostly only Japanese everywhere, although every train station has the station’s name in ‘English’ (i.e. Roman script) as well. Does it seem more mysterious and exotic if one can’t read the signs? Probably yes.

   Enjoy your stay in Tokyo!

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