使い過ぎ

This photo is a little blurry taken with my old prepaid camera phone but it still has some Kanji in there that I would like to know.

お願い（おねがい）- Do us the favor
トイレットベーパー - Toilet paper
の
使い過ぎ（つかいすぎ）- Use too much
は - Topic particle
トイレ- Toilet
の
詰り（つまり）- Stopped/Clogged
の
原因（げんいん）- Cause
となります。- Will become
ご注意願います（ごちゅういねがいます）- Please be careful

Translation: Using too much toilet paper will cause the toilet to become clogged. Please be careful.

This sign is what I love about Japan! They can take a common sense idea and turn it into a small plastic sign to remind everyone to 'don't clog the toilet'.  At the 100 yen shop I bought a handful of signs for my friends and family for Christmas. They just said things like 非常口、化粧室、駐車禁止。Well everyone hated them and they didn't get it, BUT I wish they would of had this sign instead.

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以上です。

ジョシュア

関係者以外立入禁止

I took this picture near an apartment building near my apartment building. I shared some of these on my Vine feed but might of missed this one.

Not to mention the nice reflection of my shoes, how do you like them?

関係者（かんけいしゃ）- People/Personnel
以外（いがい）- Except for/Only
立入（たちいり）- Entry
禁止（きんし）- Prohibited

Translation 
関係者以外立入禁止 - Authorized Personnel Only

Grammar Note
―以外
This is a conjunction Kanji that needs a noun or pronoun before it to show the 'exception'.

Examples:
私以外- Except for me
犬以外- Except for dogs
女性以外- Only women

以上です。

ジョシュア

谷町四丁目町会スローガン

Here is an interesting sign I saw taped to the side of a vending machine on my way home from the station.

谷町四丁目（たにまちよんちょうめ）- A part of Osaka; 
a 丁目 is equivalent to a 'block' in America.
町会（ちょうかい）- Town Council
スローガン - Slogan

谷町四丁目町会スローガン

• 元気（げんき）で挨拶（あいさつ）
• 笑顔（わらいがお）で挨拶
• 挨拶のとびかう街（まち）

谷町四丁目振興（しんこう）町会

元気-Energetic/Healthy
で- Particle preposition that has different meanings; in this sign 'with'
挨拶- Greetings
笑顔- Smiling face
の- Possessive particle
とびかう街- Flying town
振興- Promotion

Translation
Tanimachi 4 Town Council Slogan

• Greetings with energy
• Greetings with a smiling face
• A town of flying greetings

Tanimachi 4 Town Council Promotion

'A town of flying greetings' is a bit strange. What they want is a town where everyone says hello and it visualizes the words 'flying about' around town. This is a great way to improve neighborhood relationships and be friendly with your community. Although this is the only sign I've seen and its pretty small, just an A4 laminated sheet of paper. If this is a message they want to communicate they should have more signs or a bigger sign.

What do you think? Do you have signs like this in your neighborhood? If so please take a picture and send them us at deathbykanji@google.com or post it in the comments.

以上です。

ジョシュア

漏水頭上注意

Down on the subway platform there was a handwritten sign with a big red arrow.

漏水（ろうすい）- Water leak
頭上（ずじょう）- Overhead
注意（ちゅうい）- Be careful

Translation
Water leak overhead, be careful.

There was a heavy rain on Monday so the water must of been dripping into the subway. The station employees' must of handcrafted this sign in a hurry and posted it to warn everyone of the dripping water. It's pretty cool to see a handwritten sign.

What do you think of the handwriting?

以上です。

ジョシュア

通行可

I found this sign painted on the sidewalk. In Osaka, I don't think your suppose to ride your bike on the sidewalk but it looks to me that this sign is saying otherwise. Let's check it out:

 

通行（つうこう）- Passage

可（か）- Allow

通行可- Allow passage

With a picture of a bicycle and these Kanji underneath it's telling us "Bicycles Allowed Passage".

Good to know!

以上です。

ジョシュア

保育所

Waling to the station you run into this sign on the side of the road.

 

注意（ちゅうい）- Attention/Caution

保育所（ほいくしょ）- Preschool

あり - Exist (is); short for あります

スピード - Speed

落せ（おとせ）- Slow/Reduce

警察署（けさつしょ）- Police Station 

Translation: Caution. There is a preschool. Slow down. The police.

On the other side of the road is the preschool and during the morning this area is pretty busy with moms and kids going to school. So it's very important to slow down so nobody gets hurt.

以上です。

ジョシュア

Kanji Quiz

Can you read this sign in Japanese?

Go to my twitter page @deathbykanji and comment in Japanese or English.

頑張って！！

飲酒後

I've seen this poster a few times walking in the subway. The meaning is pretty obvious and we've seen a lot of these Kanji before but I like this sign and there is a lot of new Kanji we may not know.

Unfortunately due to the angle and lighting you can't see very well but he's thinking about alcohol.  

飲酒後（いんしゅあと）- After drinking alcohol
の - A particle to declare possession
転落（てんらく）- Fall/Tumble
事故（じこ）- Accident
多発（たはつ）- Frequency
危険（きけん）- Danger; Hazard
転落に - The fall/drop
ご注意（ちゅい）- Be careful/Pay attention
ください - Please

The man in the hat says "ふらっ" which is a verbal 'gasp' of surprise. Thanks a reader on Google+ I've learned I was mistaken about ”ふらっ” it's actually coming from the mans feet and is ふらふら in Japanese meaning "to totter, slip, or fall".

Translation
危険!!飲酒後の転落事故多発!! 転落にご注意ください 
"Danger!! Falling accidents frequently occur after drinking alcohol!! Please pay attention to the drop."

Here "the drop" refers to the standing platform at the station. Even if there wasn't a train coming falling off that edge sober or drunk might be pretty painful. So everyone please be careful.

ありがとう！！Please leave your comments below or send me an email at deathbykanji@gmail.com with your questions or suggestions.

以上です。

ジョシュア

わたるな

This sign is the whole of the Death by Kanji idea. A sign that looks like its saying 'cross here' is actually saying the opposite .

 

横断（おうだん）- Cross

禁止（きんし）- Prohibited

わたるな（渡るな）- Don't cross

横断禁止 on the sign is telling you 'Crossing Prohibited' and underneath わたるな is also telling you 'Don't cross'. Even though the sign is a picture of a man 'crossing' the road. Well, there is a red line underneath that has some sort of symbol of 'NO' that we are use to seeing in the west yet, it goes underneath the picture not making it very clear to the non-Kanji reader if it's OK or not OK to cross at this point.

Also, 

This sign uses a grammar structure only taught in intermediate or advanced textbooks of Japanese. Typically, when first learn Japanese な at the end of a word, phrase or sentence is an expression used by men to soften an assertion, desire, emotion or judgement.

But, 

At the end of a verb な becomes equivalent to ない and わたるな = 渡らない meaning 'don't cross'.

Other examples:

食べるな（たべるな）- Don't eat.
飲むな（のむな）- Don't drink.
走るな（はしるな）- Don't run.
歩くな（あるくな）- Don't walk.
書くな（かくな）- Don't write.
読むな（よむな）- Don't read.
払うな（はらうな）- Don't pay.
使うな（つかうな）- Don't use.
置くな（おくな）- Don't put.
するな - Don' do.

I hope this is helpful and if you have any questions please email me at deathbykanji@gmail.com.

以上です。

ジョシュア

京阪バス案内所

This is a picture at Neyagawa station 寝屋川市駅.

京阪（けいはん）- These two Kanji represent Kyoto 京 and Osaka  阪 and the public transportation line that goes between both cities in Kansai  関西. 
バス - Bus
案内所（あんないじょ）- Information desk

The next time your in need of a bus just look for this sign and hopefully they can help you out. My advice is to say, "バスの時刻表お願いします。"
時刻表（じこくひょう）is a schedule or timetable.

以上です。

ジョシュア

駐輪場

This is a picture I took near one of the schools I've worked at this year.


The business name is Integral. I don't know what they do there but next to this sign is a nice little space. I wasn't sure what they were asking for with the red Kanji so I wanted to do a translation.

駐輪場 （ちゅうりんば）- Bicycle parking　
自転車（じてんしゃ）- Bicycle
バイク - Motorbike; Motorcycle, Scooter
整理整頓 （せいりせいとん）- Organize
整理 （せいり）- Arrangement
整頓 （せいとん）- noun: Orderliness; adjective: Arranging neatly
お願いします（おねがいします）- Please do us the favor


Translation: Bicycle Parking: Please do us the favor of organizing bicycles and motorbikes neatly.

以上です。

ジョシュア