Information in the Wild Week 3: A Stroll around the Neighbourhood

[ThousandJP]

Week Three!! If you don’t know what’s happening, main post here.
Links to the previous weeks can be found in the main post also.

After spending the last week sorting recycling and garbage, let’s get some fresh air and take a walk around the neighbourhood and see what we come across.

Day 1:

Looks to be some kind of warning, what is it telling us?

Day 2:

A notice from the shop owner, what does it say?

Day 3:

1. What kind of place is the ad for?
2. What do you get for 7980円/month (+ initial new membership fee)?
3. It seems to say that it is “Open 24hours” on the bottom left, how come there is also something that looks like their hours of operation?

Day 4:

What are the four important points shoppers are asked to be aware of by Itoyokado (shore name) when using the shopping carts?

Day 5:

What is the area for? What does the store manager ask not to do?

Day 6:

1. What kind of shop is Toramo?
2. 1000円 for 30 minutes seem to be a great price, is this available for everybody?
3. Name one kind of person who they would recommend their services.

Day 7:

With that much red text and two exclamation marks, it’s probably something we should make sure we understand. What does the sign say?

New pictures each day at 9am JST
Next week, we’ll be back at the Station making sure we can understand quickly Corona measures related signs.

Check in if you’re participating this week

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[ThousandJP]

Sample Answers (Updated the following day)

Day 1

Caution! Please reduce speed because (someone) may rush/run/leap out.

Extra Notes:
It seems like the sign has been repurposed from 滝野川 to ＿羽 but half the sticker has been removed.

My assumption is that the sign is meant for vehicles but seeing how vision around the corner seems to be obstructed, if a pedestrian was running, it may not be a bad idea to slow down also.

Day 2

To prevent second sand smoke, the ash try has been removed. Please do not smoke here.
(or No Smoking Allowed)
Extra Note:
Another ご遠慮ください like the Pets sign from a couple of weeks ago.

Day 3

1. Indoor Golf School
2. Unlimited Lessons and Practice (There is no limit on number of times and can even go every day)
3. It is accessible for 24 hours/day but only during the hours of operations will there be someone at the reception desk. (The second part was not explicitly on the sign)

Extra Note: Upon further inspection of the website, it appears the price is starting from 7980円 at this specific location.

Day 4

• Please hold on to the cart when your child is on it
• Please be aware that the store will not be responsible for accidents caused by carelessness
• Please hold on to your valuables at all times
• Please return the cart to the designated area after use

Day 5

• This area is for motorcycles (バイク）and bicycles are not allowed.
• The store manager requests that you do not park there outside of store hours and not to park there for long periods of time if you are not shopping in the store.

Day 6

1. Toramo seems to be a “stretch shop”. (Addition information: From their website, it seems the service is a combination of assisted stretching and training for improving flexibility and overall performance. https://s-toramo.com
2. That price is only available for first timers
3. Someone with back pain, heavy shoulders, bad posture, body stiffness, and swelling are the ones listed.

Day 7

Unless you are a resident, guest or someone relevant to the building such as staff, please do not park your bike or motorcycle and the like here.
(If this is found to be the case, it will be removed. )

Suggested format for posting your answers
Will make it easier to distinguish from questions and discussions

[chicharron]

Day 1

Careful rushing out (?), slow down!
I believe its warning people walking around to not “rush out” to cross the street in case a car is coming, to slow down before doing that.

[Marcus]

A nice walk will be nice!

Day one

Oh yes, I see these signs all over the place!

とびだし注意スピード落とせ

とびだし - 飛び出し - something that leaps or thrusts out
注意 - ちゅうい - attention, caution, warning, etc
スピード - speed
落とせ - imperative form of 落とす - to drop, to let fall

I should hope this is a message warning car drivers that things (children etc) may suddenly appear in the road and that they should slow down.

However, roads here are designed for cars, not people, and, as in this picture, quite often the pavement is nothing more than a painted line on the road. The assumption is that the car is king and everything else has to get out of the way.

I’ve never seen a speed bump or a chicane here in my part of Tokyo, never seen a single traffic calming measure. Little streets with painted pavements are still two-way, despite being so narrow that two cars can’t pass without removing all space for pedestrians or cyclists.

So sadly I suspect this sign, on an extremely narrow and dangerous pavement, is actually aimed at kids, telling them to not run into the road, rather than at cars, telling them to slow down.

Day two - love this one!

Difficult! In real life I’d take one look at that wall of unknown kanji and grammar and just decide to keep on walking. But today, I’m pulling out my phone and looking things up on Jisho!

お知らせ
受動喫煙防止の観点から
灰皿を撤去させていただきました
こちらでの喫煙はご遠慮ください
店主

お知らせ - おしらせ - notice
受動喫煙 - じゅどうきつえん - passive smoking
防止 - ぼうし - prevention
の - possessive particle
観点 - かんてん - point of view
から - from

灰皿 - はいざら - ashtray/s
を - object marker
撤去 - てっきょ - remove, take away
させていただきました - grammar which is way beyond my level

こちらでの - here
喫煙 - きつえん - smoking
は - topic marker
ご - polite prefix
遠慮 - えんりょ - restraint
ください - please

店主 - てんしゅ - shop owner/manager

Notice
In order to prevent passive smoking
We have taken away the ashtrays
Please don’t smoke here
The manager

I love it! Love it, love it, love it! Smoking is one of the worst things about life in Japan. Yes, it’s much, much better than it used to be, but there’s still so much of it!

I get it particularly bad because there is a young couple who live next door to me and they both smoke. Okay, they only do it indoors, but their poisonous foul-smelling smoke still comes out of their flat and into ours. We have lived here for years and have never been able to open our windows because of their disgusting addiction.

So, yes, every time I see any kind of push-back against smoking, my heart leaps in celebration! Well done that shop!

Day three

What kind of place is the ad for?
インドアゴルフスクール - indoor golf school!

What do you get for 7980円/month (+ initial new membership fee)?

習い放題
ならいほうだい
unlimited lessons

回数制限なし!
かいすうせいげんなし!
Unlimited number of visits.

毎日通ってもOK!
まいにちとおってもOK!
Coming everyday is okay!

初心者大歓迎
しょしんしゃだいかんげい
Beginners welcome

使い放題!
つかいほうだい！
Unlimited use!

It seems to say that it is “Open 24hours” on the bottom left, how come there is also something that looks like their hours of operation?

Ah, that’d be the opening hours of their 受付, うけつけ, reception desk. Though I’m not sure what it means to say 無料受付, むりょううけつけ, free reception, unless it means that by calling in your can get information for free (rather than forking out the cost of a phonecall).

Either way, 7,980円 a month?! Think I’ll pass on this one!

Day four

Itoyokado is great if you like to listen to the Beatles played on panpipes. For the decade or more I’ve been going there, the background music hasn’t changed once!

Anyway, on to the carts…

お願い
おねがい
Please…

お子様がお乗りの際はカートから手を放さないで下さい
おこさまがおのりのさいはカートからてをはなさないでください
Please don’t remove your hands from the cart when a child is riding in it

不注意による事故については責任を負いかねます
ふちゅういによるじこについてはせきにんをおいかねます
We do not accept responsibility for accidents caused by carelessness

貴重品は必ず手にお持ち下さい
きちょうひんはかならずてにおもちください
Please keep hold of your valuables at all times

ご利用後は所定の位置にお戻し下さい
ごりようごはしょていのいちにおもどしください
After use, please return to the proper place

Happy Shopping!

Day five

What is the area for?

お客様用バイク一時置場
おきゃくさまようバイクいちじおきば

Lit: customer - use - motorbike - temporary - storage (parking).
Short-stay motorbike parking area for the use of customers.

I was initially confused here. It’s obviously a parking spot for motorbikes, but I didn’t get the 一時 part. One o’clock parking? One hour limit? Then I saw that 一時 also means ‘temporarily’! Bingo!

What does the store manager ask not to do?

営業時間外の 駐輪は ご遠慮ください
えいぎょうじかんがいのちゅうりんはごえんりょください

営業 - business hours
時間 - time / hours
外 - outside
の - particle
駐輪 - bike parking
は - particle
ご遠慮ください - please refrain from

Please don’t park outside of shop opening hours.

長時間駐車の場合は警告シールを貼らせて頂きますのでご了承下さい

長時間 - long time
駐車 - parking
の場合は - if (in the case that you park for a long time)
警告シール - warning sticker
を - object marker
貼らせて - 張る, to stick + grammar I don’t understand
頂きますので - no idea
ご了承 - understanding
下さい - please

Please understand that we’ll plaster your beautiful bike with super-ugly super-adhesive stickers if we think you’ve been parking here for too long. No dilly-dallying allowed in Japan you know!

Day six

Aaaarrggghh! Hand-written text! Let’s see Google Translate can do with this (every day I cheat, today I’ll be cheating even more)!

What kind of shop is Toramo?

ストレッチ - stretch
専門 - せんもん - speciality
It’s a stretch shop!

1000円 for 30 minutes seem to be a great price, is this available for everybody?

No, sorry, that’d be a 初回限定…
初回 - しょかい - first time
限定 - げんてい - limit, restriction
Limited to new customers only.

Name one kind of person who they would recommend their services.

腰の痛み - こしのいたみ - lower back pain
肩の重さ - かたのおもさ - heavy shoulders
姿勢 の悪さの身体のさ - しせいのわるさのしんたいのさ - bad posture
むくみ - swelling

Sounds about right for me! But I can’t afford the introductory price let alone the regular price, whatever that might be. I’m better off finding a good YouTube video instead! Stretching is free!

Day seven

Happy New Year everyone!

With that much red text and two exclamation marks, it’s probably something we should make sure we understand. What does the sign say?

入居者及び関係者以外の
自転車・バイク等は
置かないで下さい!!
(発見次第撤去します)
建物管理
大東建託株

入居者 - にゅうきょしゃ - tenant, resident
及び - および - and, as well as
関係者 - かんけいしゃ - persons concerned
以外 - いがい - with the exception of; excepting; excluding
の - particle
自転車 - じてんしゃ - bicycles
バイク - motorbikes
等 - など - etc
は - topic marker
置かないで下さい!! - おかないでください！！- please don’t leave!!

発見 - はっけん - discovery; detection; finding
次第 - しだい - as soon as; immediately after; upon
撤去します - てっきょします - remove

建物 - たてもの - building
管理 - かんり - management

大東建託株 - name of company

Unless you are a resident or visitor, please don’t leave your bike or motorbike or whatever here. Anything left here will be removed.
The management

Thanks again for another great week ‘in the wild’! Looking forward to next week!

[iariar]

Day 1

Beware of suddenly jumping out [cars]! Drop the speed!

@Marcus

So sadly I suspect this sign, on an extremely narrow and dangerous pavement, is actually aimed at kids, telling them to not run into the road, rather than at cars, telling them to slow down.

I am very sure this is sign directed at cars to warn about other cars. It is also placed on a crossroad where vision to the left seems to be blocked by fence or building of some sorts.

[Marcus]

Thanks!

@iariar

I am very sure this is sign directed at cars to warn about other cars. It is also placed on a crossroad where vision to the left seems to be blocked by fence or building of some sorts.

Yes, that makes sense, especially with the bit about reducing your speed. Thank you. But, goodness, such shockingly bad road design! Sadly typical.

[cjhey]

I read it like this:

Summary

[People/objects] may leap out. Caution. Lower your speed.

However, I’m not sure if I should parse とびだし注意 as:

Summary

Mind objects/people suddenly appearing

The difference is more or less trivial I think, but what I’m wondering is if there’s something about とびだし that connects it to 注意 grammatically (like the し there) or if the connection is simply implied.

[eclipse77x]

Day 1

とびだし注意スピード落とせ
滝野羽警察署•北区

Literal Translation: Jumping Out Caution Reduce Speed; Takinoha Police Station, North Ward/District

This sign from the Takinoha Police Station, North Ward/District is warning drivers to reduce their speed to give them enough time to stop in case a child (or an animal) runs out into the road.

Extra credit: The sign does not specify which, but there is a “Children Crossing” sign on the next block, so I think they mean children. If it was a deer crossing there’d probably be an illustration of a deer or the sign would include 動物 or どうぶつ.

Also not sure if I got the city’s name right.

Day 2

お知らせ
受動禁煙防止の観点から
灰皿を撤去させていただきました
こちらでの禁煙はご遠慮ください
店主

Literal Translation: Notice, from the passive (受動) smoking cessation (禁煙) prevention (防止) point of view (観点), the ashtrays have been removed, please refrain from smoking here, -Shopkeeper

We know that this sign is in a store because the notice is from the shopkeeper (店主). The sign is explaining that the ashtrays have been removed to prevent secondhand smoke and to please refrain from smoking.

Note: At first I was confused that there was both 禁煙 and 防止 because 禁煙 can refer to a smoking prohibition. Since I’ve also heard 禁煙 used to refer to smoking in general, I googled “passive smoking cessation” and realized the sign might be talking about secondhand smoke. I also tried looking up 受動禁煙 as one word instead of two separate ones and saw it is defined as “passive smoking” or “secondhand smoking” so now I’m sure that’s what it means. I think it took a little longer for me to arrive at this conclusion because in English it is usually discussed as as “secondhand smoke” or “secondhand smoke inhalation” rather than used as a verb like “second-hand smoking”.

Day 3

This is an advertisement for an indoor golf school (インドアゴルフスクール). At the top it says that newcomers are welcome (初心者大歓迎), you can learn from zero/nothing (ゼロから学ぶ), and there are licensed/authorized coaches (認定コーチが教えて).

For 7,908円 a month, you get to learn as much as you want (習い放題) and use the Original Swing machine (オリギナルスイング解新機) as much as you want (使い放題). Tax is included (税込) and the initiation fee is not (入会金別途). There is no limit on how many times you can use (回数制限なし), and coming every day is OK (毎日通ってもOK). It again says that newcomers are welcome (初心者大歓迎).

The big red text says that visitors are welcome at any time. (いつでも見学自由！お気軽にどうぞ！)

わたしのゴルフ is the name of the school and this is the Akabane branch (赤羽店). It is open 24 hours (24時間利用OK) and then the reception hours (各種受付時間) for free trials (無料体験) are listed, which are 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays (平日)—except for Tuesdays and Fridays (火•金休み)—and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays (土日祝祭日).

Day 4

<お願い>
Please:

お子様が乗りの際はカートから手を放さないでください。
If your child is riding (in the cart) (乗り際は) please do not remove your hands from the cart (カートから手を放さないで下さい).

不注意による事故については責任を負いかねます。
We cannot be responsible (責任を負いかねます) for accidents resulting from carelessness (不注意による事故).

貴重品は必ず手にお持ち下さい。
Please be sure to hold on to your valuables (貴重品).

ご利用後は所定の立ち置にお戻し下さい。
Please return the cart to the designated area (所定の位置) after using (御利用後).

Extra Credit:

楽しく便利にお買い物をショッピングカートをご利用下さい
Please use our shopping carts to shop happily and conveniently.

お子様はこの様にお乗せてください。
Please have your child ride in this manner.

お子様が立ちになりますと大変危険です。
It is very dangerous for the child to stand. (Literally, if the were to stand it would be very dangerous.)

Day 5

The area is for short term motorcycle storage (not bicycles). The store manager wants people not to park their motorcycles there if they are not shopping in the store or for long periods of time outside of business hours.

First Sign (一番目のサイン):

バイク置場
Motorcycle Storage

自転車駐輪禁止
Bicycle Parking is Prohibited

---

Second Sign (二番目のサイン):

お客様用バイク一時置場
Short Term Motorcycle Storage for Customers

営業時間外（開店前・閉店後）及びお買い物以外での長時間駐車はお止め下さい。
Outside of business hours (before and after closing) or other than shopping, please do not park for an extended period of time.

長時間駐車の場合は警告シールを貼らせて頂きますのでご了承下さい。
If you park for a long time we will apply a warning sticker.

店長
Store Manager

---

Third Sign (三番目のサイン):

交通法規の遵守
Obeying Traffic Law

公道（歩道）は歩行者優先です。
On public roads (walkways/sidewalks) pedestrians take priority.

自転車・バイク走行しながら歩道乗り入れは禁止（道路交通法違反）です。
While operating/running a bicycle or motorcycle it is prohibited to drive/ride on pedestrian walkways (it is a violation of traffic law).

警視庁赤羽警察署
Metropolitan Police Department Akabane Police Station

Day 6

This one was tough, and not just because of deciphering the handwritten kanji. Interestingly, it is a good example of how much you can understand even if you don’t know all the words. I also kind of cheated a tinsy bit by finding the company’s website (https://s-toramo.com/) and finding the “recommended for” section and using OCR on the line with 限定 so I could verify the kanji. Turns out the only ones I couldn’t get at all were 初回 (I thought ＊刀同) and 硬. And does the おくみ mean like “and so on” or “etc.”? I couldn’t find any definitions, but am also unsure if I read it correctly.

TORAMO ストレッチ専門店
TORAMO Stretch Specialty Shop (Massage Parlor)

初回限定
Limited to First Time (customers)

30分 １０００円
30 minutes for 1000 yen

<こんな方にススメ>
Recommended for (people with):

腰の痛み・肩の重さ・姿勢の悪さ・身体の硬さ、おくみ。。。
Back Pain • Stiff/Heavy Shoulders • Bad/Poor Posture • Body Stiffness • etc./and so on

ぜひストレッチ体験してみませんか？
(By all means) Won’t you try (the experience of) stretching?

---

Toramo is a stretching shop (or massage parlor?) (ストレッチ専門店), 30 minutes for ¥1,000 limited (限定) to first-time customers (初回).

This service is recommended for people with back pain (that’s me!) (腰の痛み), heavy shoulders/shoulder stiffness (肩の重さ) , bad posture (姿勢の悪さ), and body stiffness (身体の硬さ).

Day 7

入居者及び関係者以外の自転車・バイク等は置かないでください！！
(People) other than tenants or staff/related parties please do not put/park your bicycle • motorcycle etc. here.

（発見次第撤去します）
It will be removed upon discovery (immediately).

ー建物権利ー
Building Management

０

大東健託（株）
Daito Trust, Ltd.

The sign says this bicycle parking is for tenants and their guests/staff use only. Bikes that aren’t supposed to be there will be removed immediately.

お疲れ様でした！次の週間に楽しみにしています。あけましておめでとう皆さん！
一緒に日本語の勉強を頑張りましょう！！！

Thanks for another great week. Looking forward to the next one. Happy new year!

[ThisIsntTheWay]

Thanks for doing this again!

Day 1

The sign essentially commands us (落とせ) to slow down due to the danger of things “leaping out” (of the barely visible side streets).

Most of the kanji in the lower left I couldn’t quite make out, but my OCR software somehow did:
It’s a sign posted by the northern district of some police station.

Day 2

I like how these things always start off with words I know (お知らせ), just for me to literally look up all the rest
Really shows the importance of learning kanji, that way one can at least infer the meanings…

Anyhow, the notice says that, in the interest of stopping passive smoking, they’ve removed the ashtray.
(Literal: “From the viewpoint of passive smoking prevention …”)

As such, one is asked not to smoke in this area.

Day 3

The funky kanji at the top are unfortunately too much for my OCR :<
I can ready some of them, but not all…

1. It’s an “indoor golf school”, promising that you can learn from scratch.
2. You get access to some golf machine(?) that you can use an unlimited amount of times.
   Apparently there’s a bit more to it than this after reading some other answers haha
3. I cannot say for certain, but I think it’s the schedule for when staff are present.

Day 4

The instructions on the left read:

• Children should be seated in the shopping card.
• Standing in the cart is dangerous.

The bullet point list on the right are a few requests (お願い):

• When children are riding (lit. “on the occasion of riding”), don’t let go of the card.
• The store cannot be held responsible for accidents caused by carelessnes.
• This one was a bit harder, but it says to hold on to your valuables.
  (As in, beware of pickpocketers)
• After use, please return the cart.

[ThousandJP]

I assume you are thinking something like
飲み込み
消し込み

I don’t think that’s the case here, looks like two nouns (名詞)

[iariar]

Day 2

Announcement
Due to the prevention of smoking [in public spaces], we have removed ash trays. Please refrain from smoking here.
Store manager.

[cjhey]

Bunch of words I didn’t know in this one, but the dictionary helped.

Summary

Notice

From the standpoint of preventing second hand smoking, we have removed the ashtray.
Please refrain from smoking here.

The owner.

I think that’d be the gist of it, though, I’m more or less guessing that

Summary

防止の観点から can be translated less literally as “in order to prevent”.

Also, I suppose

Summary

灰皿 refers to the bigger waste disposal/ashtray things you see outside some shops. Is that correct though?

[Marcus]

@ThousandJP

Week Three!!

Thank you so much for doing these! It’s a really great project! Plus, you know, I was thinking, each day’s photo would make a really good Instagram post! If you’ve got the time, a little promotion never hurt!

[linda0r]

Really enjoying this. Thanks for doing.
5. This is a bike parking place- whether motor bike or push bike I have no idea.
The manager asks not to park when shop is closed I think.

[josh]

Can someone explain to me why かねます is used in the day 4 post at the second bullet point - 責任を負いかねます
My impression (given how Bunpro explains it) is that かねる is used when someone would like to do A, but it would essentially stretch them too thin; therefore, they cannot do A. But in this case, I don’t see why/how a store would have the “want” to take responsibility for something that isn’t their fault…? Which is why I’m a bit confused why かねる is being used here.

[ThousandJP]

They are trying to convey the sentiment that “they really would like to (bear the responsibility), but they really can not”.

You can just consider it a more gentle way of saying 「責任を負いません」

[josh]

I figured this was how it was being used… but I guess what I’m getting at is like, the store has no part in the person being careless, so why would they indicate sentiment in saying that they would like to be liable for what happened, but can’t. Is there something I’m missing? I realize we’re looking at this from an English translation, but if someone told me “I’d like to be responsible for your carelessness, but I can’t” just sounds kind of condescending to me in a way rather than showing sentiment.

[Asher]

Copied straight from a Japanese dictionary:

「動詞連用形+—」 の形で、 接尾語的に〕 そうしたくてもそうすることが出来ない事情にある。 「言い出し—／ 見るに見— 〔=黙って見ていることが出来ない〕／ お引き受けいたし兼ねます／ 君が来るのを待ちかねて 〔=今か今かと待って〕 いたよ」⇒かねない

(When connected to the conjunctive form of a verb as a suffix) Being in the state of not being able to do something even if one wanted to.

It doesn’t necessarily always mean that one actually wants to, but can give off the sentiment of ‘oh It’d be great if I could (A), but it’s not really feasible’.

In the case of that particular sign, I’d say rather than 'we want to take responsibility but can’t ', it’s closer to ‘taking responsibility would be a bit of a stretch of our obligations’. It’s just a slightly more polite way of saying ‘unless the fault is clearly ours (a shelf falls on your trolley), look after your own kid’.

[eclipse77x]

I feel a lot better about my Day 6 answer after reading yours, since you arrived at the same conclusions as I did. (Except you correctly read that letter at the end as む and not あ or お like I did.)

Totally agree that stretching is free. Having someone else do it for you is kind of like sports massage. When I have it done they stretch more deeply than I can do on my own because of the myotatic reflex. According to their website the introductory price for 50 minutes is ¥5,500, which is about $42 USD. (¥1,000 is about $8 USD.) That’s super inexpensive! I want to go there!

[Marcus]

@eclipse77x

Except you correctly read that letter at the end as む and not あ or お like I did

You’re very kind, but believe me, it was Google Translate that did the heavy lifting on this one! My eyes go funny the moment I look at handwritten text!

And wow, is that price cheap is it? I had no idea! Thanks, and Happy New Year!