Day 5
They are closed on Mondays instead of Wednesdays
4 Likes
Thanks for posting these up and for all the translations, this is good fun!
3 Likes
Any thoughts? Am I missing something obvious? I usually am.
4 Likes
I could be wrong, but I think a few people at least are using the screen/picture reading function of Google Lens.
I have only used it a few times to be honest, but it usually does the job if there is anything you can’t read.
3 Likes
Never heard of Google Lens before. Is it better than just using Google Translate?
The problem I have with Google Translate when using the camera, is that it does just that, it translates…! But it doesn’t give me the reading. I get around that by using the handwriting function, which I only discovered through this thread this week, which will also give the reading. How about Lens?
3 Likes
I have never compared the two to be honest, but I would assume they are working off the same base programming. 
4 Likes
I guess you must be right!
4 Likes
I have a mobile dictionary called Nihongo (original, right?) on my iPhone but not sure if there is an Android version. It works pretty well. I am still new to Japanese so the grammar is often very confusing (but getting better) - and this dictionary also has verb conjugations which is great.
4 Likes
Ah I ok google lens working, pretty cool, it translated the text straight into english whereas yomiwa tries to capture the kanji and look it up for you. I’d use google lens if I’m in a hurry and yomiwa for learning purposes
3 Likes
I enjoyed reading through your process again!
One thought I had on your breakdown
Instead of splitting the 事 and があります, in this case I think 事があります is a set expression that has the meaning of “to be possible” or “happens sometimes”. So I think ドアが開く事があります can be literally translated to “This door opens/can open”.
There is an N3 grammar point on it here! ことがある - Japanese Grammar Explained | Bunpro
3 Likes
Thank you so much @Stormblessed ! That is really interesting and useful to know! Much appreciated! Thank you!
3 Likes
本日
日本 
本日
4 Likes
Day 7 Potential Spoiler
I had the SAME PROBLEM! Then I realized it didn’t say 日本… and then I confused 終了 and 完了 and I thought like… The Japanese counter of the store was finished and the new store was almost ready to begin receiving customers.
4 Likes
Enjoyed reading the signs every day, looking forward to next week!
本日
I had the same confusion the first time I saw 本日 
. Everyone learns 日本 on day 1 of learning Japanese and then sees it probably ten thousand times before they see 本日 for the first time.
It reminds me of 末 vs 未 when starting out with kanji.
4 Likes
I am having issues properly understanding this sentence (Day 3):
事前支払いとなっております.
I was able to deduce that it says “Pre-payment is required”, but I fail to understand ~となっております.
Specifically, I don’t see how と, なる and おる (居る?) work together to produce “…is required”.
Could anyone explain this to me?
3 Likes
Late to this week - so doing the whole lot in one go!
Day 1
Not sure of some of the kanji, but the gist is that no pets are allowed in this area.
Day 2
There’s no elevator at this, the northern ticket booth, but there is one at the southern ticket booth - and helpful directions are provided.
Day 3
The kanji here are beyond me, but something about a cut-off of 22nd… and I don’t think the telephone receptionist will be available from 23-25… but maybe you could come in person?
Day 4
You’re being asked to use the tongs for the bread. I can’t make out the second part, but it’s very polite!
Day 5
From January 2023, the day off is being changed to Monday. In 2022 it was Wednesday.
Day 6
I don’t fully understand… but as the door opens, we’re being cautioned not to stand around in this area.
Day 7
Today the reception is closed. Then something like asking us to wait until the shop is open again.
3 Likes
It is essentially a more polite version of です. I want to say you would mostly see it on signs or other public facing things.
Also, might be a good example to highlight how while the English captures the correct message, working backwards from it doesn’t necessarily work that well. Applying that in reverse may be helpful when producing Japanese.
3 Likes
ております is a polite way of saying ている (found in the definition of 居る -「…ております」の形で）「…ている」の丁寧な言い方。「ただ今、外出して―・ります」) Well then we have となっております being the same as となっている this is actually covered in Bunpro (which is hyperlinked).
With that said, “…is required” is really just an English localization I’m pretty sure. One of the definitions of となっている is “has been established”. So we could look at this sentence translating as “Due to limited quantities, an advanced payment has been established”. Well, in English this doesn’t really flow that well - but because prior payments have become established this is now the only way you can pay. Since this is the only way you can pay, it must be required that in order to get your order, you have to pay in advance. Hopefully that somewhat helps.
3 Likes
You’re right, it’s just an English localization. The real feeling that is being conveyed with と in these cases is just the fact that something is decided/determined, and nothing can really be done about it. となる and similar structures just indicate that there is no decision making process on the part of the speaker, and something just is the way it is due to some external process that can’t be controlled (hence why it sounds a lot stronger).
Pretty much all of the ‘is established’, ‘has been determined’, ‘will end up’, translations just convey that feeling of ‘it’s done, and cannot be changed’.
3 Likes
Thanks, your explanation makes this very clear to me now!
3 Likes