Kyoto Tourist Sign Senbon Imadegawa Streets

京都千本今出川看板

Attractive multilingual signs have been popping around Kyoto.

In a city famous for difficult to read place names - Japanese from Tokyo sometimes cannot read the signs - and full of tourists, this is welcome.

Most of the signs are smaller, but this larger model includes a handy map.

The sites noted are not particularly famous, but the sign is elegant and helpful.

This sign is a few blocks east of the Kamishichiken geisha area and Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Jitensha Sign Nishijin Kyoto

「自転車」看板京都

A small mom-and-pop rice shop in Nishijin has a blue sign with white lettering that reads

自転車

That of course means "bicycle," but we have no idea why.

The building is old - which in the area is normal - and the sign is of a certain vintage.

However, there was not a bike or tool or pump to be found.

We didn't have time to investigate but the street, Teranouchi Dori, has much to recommend it.

Temples, small shops, old homes abound - so we will get back there and solve the mystery of the blue "jitensha" sign.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags
 
Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Jitensha Sign

No Parking Bicycle Sign Sakai Osaka

自転車放置禁止区域境

On a recent trip to Sakai to visit the Bicycle Museum, we strolled around Daisen Park and an imperial tomb en route.

On the way, one sign caught our eye.

"No motor scooter or bicycle parking"

This was on the sidewalk from Mozu Station to the Museum.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Sakai

Osaka No Bicycle Parking Sign

大阪自転車放棄禁止区域

In a long pedestrian underpass - which runs directly under the JR lines into and out of Osaka Station - is a beat up but charming "No Bicycle Parking" sign.

Like many official proclamations in Japan's second city, it was ignored.

It was so done by the homeless men who appeared to be living and working there.

The men were selling comic books they had placed on the sidewalk. Each man had a bike, always a mama chari beater, that was used to get around and,  no doubt, to get their goods to and from market.

And customers, mainly middle-aged guys, were buying.

A brisk business was taking place on a narrow sidewalk adjacent to a busy road - pictured below left - that runs under many, many train tracks. These entrepreneurs sleep rough and use old bikes to get around Osaka to buy and sell their wares.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Towing
Kyoto
Cycle
Osaka

Bike Lane Sign Kyoto

自転車専用レーンの標識

As noted in a previous blog, Kyoto recently opened a new bike lane.

It is 300 meters long, and runs in front of the prefectural police department building.

Perhaps the best aspect of the lane is the sign, pictured at right.

It is clear, attractive, easy to understand - and framed mystically by a brutally trimmed street tree.

The black lettering at the bottom - ここまで (koko made) - means "until this point."

Thus, the lane ends at the sign.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Bike Lane Sign

Bicycle Parking Sign Tenryuji Temple Kyoto

天龍寺駐輪場看板

Just off the main drag in Arashiyama, the temple-filled area in western Kyoto, is the World Heritage site Tenryuji Temple.

To the left, or south, of the main entrance is a lot for bicycles and motorcycles.

It is noted with a monolingual sign that, thanks to the image at the bottom, is clear enough.

On a geeky linguistic note, the sign reads: 駐輪場 (churinba). This is instead of the more common 駐輪所 (churinjo). The bike lots in town tend toward the latter, perhaps more modern, reading.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Tenryuji Temple

Jintan Street Sign Kyoto

仁丹の標識

Kyoto has the largest collection of Jintan signs in Japan.

Jintan, a small pharmaceutical company based in Osaka, used to post these ads/street address signs on houses in the early part of the 20th century.

They all have the British (?) officer at the top, followed by the Jintan companycharacters （仁丹）, and then finally the street address.

The decades old signs were often tacked onto houses on corners, however they can be found on homes in the middle of blocks.

Perhaps the greatest concentration of the signs can be found in the city's "Gothic Quarter," west of Horikawa Dori.

Recently the signs have become prized as collector's items, and there has been some theft. When many of the older homes are torn down, the signs are often lost.

The Jintan Corporation also recently announced that it would add another 25 new signs in various locations throughout the city.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Jintan Sign
Kyoto
Cycle
Japanese

Kyoto Bike Towing Sign

京都市自転車撤去の公示

The dreaded - but helpful! - towing notice.

Attached to the white and green No Parking sign is an A4 notice warning of the arrival of the tow truck.

It has the all important date noted in red.

In this case, along Kiyamachi Dori in downtown Kyoto, the trucks came on July 17th.

When parking, always check for these alerts.

More on bike parking and towing .

© CycleKyoto.com CycleKyoto Home Page 


Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

No Cycling Sign Kodomo Mirai Kan Kyoto

自転車乗り入り禁止！

And yet another No Biking! sign in Kyoto.

At a former elementary school south of the of the Imperial Palace, the school yard is off limits to cyclists (and motorcycles).

The facility is now a center for children known as Kodomo Mirai Kan (Infancy Outlook House).

It is a bustling place with a daycare center, and many events and activities.

Weekends especially are very crowded with parents and their young children.

There is parking underground for cars, and, in front, for bicycles.


© CycleKyoto.com
 CycleKyoto Home Page

 Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Cool Bike Sign Kyoto

すごい自転車標識京都

Just north of Gojo Dori - the large boulevard in the background of the photo - we found this somewhat beat up bike sign.

The sign reads:

Warning/Be Careful of bikes rushing out!

Below that it is "signed" with the address of the local police station.

The design is a bit dated, but we love the look of the cyclist with his racing helmet on, leaning forward, the wind streaming behind him.

It also appears that a cyclist (?) hit the sign at the bottom.

More on bicycle law

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Bike Sign Japanese

Bike and Pedestrian Sign Kyoto

京都交通標識

The sign pictured at right tells the viewer that both bicycles and pedestrians are allowed on this block.

Below the round blue image, the sign reads:

自転車通行可 (jitensha tsuko ka)

That means that bikes are permitted to pass (ride) here.

The street is a short stretch along Kawaramachi north of Imadegawa that is full of shops.

Shop owners and locals seemed mostly oblivious to the college students careening down the sidewalk, earphones inserted, cell phone in hand.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese