Fits right there in the Think Visual category.
Our friends at PingMag (Ryoko wrote the piece, October 4) take a look at Tokyo in Pictograms, you know traffic signs, directions to the right train, bus or subway, the nearest bathroom, parking or hospital and whatever else we need to find or be aware of.
I picked two of their illustrations.
First one is ‘No walking and smoking in Shibuya Ward’
Note the emphasis on no smoking with the giant cigarette.
Second is ‘Don’t Run for your Train’
It reminds me not so much of my local train stations
but rather of New York Penn Station at rush hour.
And I guess it could be Paris, London or any big city with people headed for the suburbs after a day at work.
Sorry I cannot translate the text on this sign, my Japanese skills are pretty much non-existent.
According to Wikipedia, the earliest known use of pictograms can be traced back to Mesopotamia.
That’s it for Tokyo Thursday #7
On a closing note, does your corner of the world count Street Signs with a very local flavor?
Think of one, send us a snapshot.
Previous Tokyo Thursday: On ‘Japanese Microbrews’…and Tokyo Brewpubs