street signs – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Fri, 18 Sep 2020 05:00:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 street signs – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 People wowed by Japanese road signs that change automatically in seconds 【Videos】 https://soranews24.com/2020/09/18/people-wowed-by-japanese-road-signs-that-change-automatically-in-seconds-%e3%80%90videos%e3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2020/09/18/people-wowed-by-japanese-road-signs-that-change-automatically-in-seconds-%e3%80%90videos%e3%80%91/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2020 05:00:56 +0000 https://soranews24.com/?p=515914 
Traffic tech never looked so cool.
One of the most difficult things about driving on unfamiliar roads is making sense of the street signs, and in Japan they can be particularly confusing, especially when they include Japanese writing in small print, to indicate times and days when instructions apply**.**
So it’s come as a pleasant surprise to many in Japan that there are a few road signs that have the amazing ability to change automatically, making it much easier to understand the rules. In fact, a lot of Japanese people didn’t even know such signs existed, so when Twitter user Wakame Stem (@zTnX4X9UPinHF0y) posted a couple of videos showing them in action, they went viral and even made the national news.
This first video shows the moment a sign changes from “Closed to Large Trucks and Buses” to “No Vehicle Entry“. The way it spins around as it changes is strangely mesmerising.
あげ忘れてた、
標識が変わる瞬間① pic.twitter.com/zgqab6rAdm— くきわかめ (@kukiwakame3385) September 5, 2020
The automatic change from one sign to the other has blown people’s minds, not only for the awesomeness of the design, but also the thoughtfulness behind it. The reason it changes is due to the fact that the direction of traffic here changes at a certain time of day, and if you look at the intersection where it’s located below, you can see how confusing it would be to understand the road rules without the changing sign overhead.
▼ The changing sign is located in Aoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture.
The blue-and-white road signs with arrows in the photo above come with tiny writing that states vehicles other than trucks and buses can proceed under the railway track between the hours of 6 and 9 a.m. After this time, no vehicles can proceed from this side, as it becomes a one-way thoroughfare from the other side of the railroad tracks.
That’s a lot of vital information in small print for an unfamiliar driver to process in the seconds it takes to read while driving, and a mistake could result in a serious accident. The large sign overhead, however, makes the rules much easier to understand, because it changes to a big “No Entry” sign at 9 a.m., helping to ensure safe passage for all drivers.
Surprisingly, this variable road sign isn’t the only one at this particular intersection, as Wakame Stem shared this video of a nearby sign that morphs from “30-kilometres-per-hour” (18.6 miles-per-hour) to show the designated directions permitted.
標識が変わる瞬間② pic.twitter.com/iKF6XvXZFB
— くきわかめ (@kukiwakame3385) September 5, 2020
The changing sign appears by the side of the road in both directions to ensure approaching drivers don’t go under the railway tracks at the wrong time of day.
This clip — so unusual it made it to Japanese television — shows how the signs change on a timer within seconds of each other.
スーパーJチャンネルにて
僕のツイートした可変標識が放送されました！ pic.twitter.com/uTrlMojRXb— くきわかめ (@kukiwakame3385) September 10, 2020
People online were gobsmacked by the signs, saying:
“Wow – I’ve driven on a lot of roads and I’ve never seen anything like this!”
“Omg how have I never seen this before?”
“This is very cool!”
“I love this high-tech low-tech system!”
“So awesome – it makes it easy for drivers to understand the rules.”
“They should install more of these around Japan!”
The changing signs have really opened people’s eyes to the possibilities that exist for simple technologies to make an impact on the roads. It would be great to see these types of signs become more common around Japan, because it’s a well-known fact that Japanese road signs really can be ridiculously confusing.
Source: Twitter/@zTnX4X9UPinHF0y
Featured image: Twitter/@zTnX4X9UPinHF0y
Insert images: Twitter/@zTnX4X9UPinHF0y (1, 2)
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2020/09/18/people-wowed-by-japanese-road-signs-that-change-automatically-in-seconds-%e3%80%90videos%e3%80%91/feed/ 0 515914 Japanese road street traffic signs change cars driving in Japan rules photos guide “Daaangerrrr!” Fukuoka town experiments with new road markings https://soranews24.com/2014/04/18/daaangerrrr-fukuoka-town-experiments-with-new-road-markings/ https://soranews24.com/2014/04/18/daaangerrrr-fukuoka-town-experiments-with-new-road-markings/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2014 13:00:28 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=141724 
Road signs are a dime a dozen out there. The typical driver usually only focuses on what is directly in front of their car, oblivious to almost everything else. Advertisers know though, that it is possible to catch the eye of the driver. They choose strange images or bold words to catch their attention. It really works! How many times can you remember looking at a sign because it was abnormal?
A small town in Fukuoka Prefecture has been taking notes and have come up with their own unusual traffic signs to help slow down cars on some of their dangerous roads.
Japan is known for its narrow roads. Some of them you look at and wonder how two cars can possibly pass each other (answer: very slowly and with both drivers wincing). You may pause in wonderment at the logic behind making the roads that narrow, and then it hits you, pedestrians also have to fit on this poor excuse of a two-way road!
Especially in rural areas of Japan, students from as young as elementary school age have to walk on these narrow streets to get to school. Of course, there are many road signs warning people to “watch your speed” or “be careful of walking students”, but they are so common, some people might ignore them or at least get so used to them that they forget all about them. These safety issues are compounded when the road is particularly straight.
▼Typical, narrow Japanese road
Take this road in Chukujougunyoshito-machi Suzukuma, Fukuoka, for example. The width is about five meters (16.4 feet) wide, so two cars are barely able to squeeze past each other. If they do, it leaves no room for any pedestrians. This road lies just off a main prefectural road and thus it’s a commonly used road for cars and students walking to the nearby elementary school. And even though there is lots of traffic, cars will still race down the road as it lacks any curbs and stop signs.
From April 2014, however, this town in Fukuoka has decided to use new street signs to get cars to slow down and be more cautious. They are using “straight-to-the-point” phrases to catch the drivers’ attention such as “AH! DANGER!” and “Things will jump out at you!” , often written in surprisingly casual tones. When confronted with those signs, drivers think, “What? Really? Where, where???” and are forced to use more caution.
▼”Things will jump out at you!” Nice use of the exclamation mark, too!
▼”Slowly!!!”
▼”AH! DANGER!”
Reactions from around the web seem to agree.
“This has a lot of impact!”
“It’s nice to see this working.”
“How interesting!”
“Instead of a ho-hum slogan, this is a lot more effective!”
“I like this kind of thing; I wish they would do it in Hokkaido too!”
“This idea is really good; it’s bad to have kids suffering from accidents and close calls.”
One of our own writers wondered if these signs were really effective. But, once they drove the road themselves, the impact was extraordinary. There is no mistake, drivers will slow down when they see these unfamiliar signs! Of course, if you can’t read Japanese, perhaps something like this would be more effective.
Do you think these signs would work where you live? Let us know in the comments!
Images: RocketNew24
Video: YouTube
]]> https://soranews24.com/2014/04/18/daaangerrrr-fukuoka-town-experiments-with-new-road-markings/feed/ 0 141724 abune semai boy tobidasu oneroad slow