The core idea: read the shape first, then the kanji
Japanese road signs are sorted into families, and each family has a shape, so you know what kind of message is coming before you read a character. Hyōshiki (標識) means sign. Kisei hyōshiki, literally regulation signs, carry the rules, and they mostly come in three shapes: the upside-down triangle, the red ring and the blue disc.
The kanji inside then follow a few endings. Kinshi (禁止) means prohibited; dome, from tomeru, means closed to; sen'yō (専用) means for the exclusive use of; and ari, there is, ends the names of warning signs. The part before the ending names the thing, so most signs read themselves.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| あの標識、何て書いてありますか。 | Ano hyōshiki, nan te kaite arimasu ka. | What does that sign say? |
| あの青くて丸い標識は何ですか。 | Ano aokute marui hyōshiki wa nan desu ka. | What's that round blue sign? |
| 赤い丸の標識は、禁止という意味です。 | Akai maru no hyōshiki wa, kinshi to iu imi desu. | Signs with a red circle mean something is prohibited. |
| Family | Reading | Shape and colour | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 規制標識 | kisei hyōshiki | Red ring, blue disc or upside-down triangle | A rule: forbidden, required or stop |
| 指示標識 | shiji hyōshiki | Blue square | Information: a crossing, parking allowed |
| 警戒標識 | keikai hyōshiki | Yellow diamond | A warning about something ahead |
| 案内標識 | annai hyōshiki | Blue or green rectangle | Directions and place names |
| 補助標識 | hojo hyōshiki | White plate under a sign | Times, vehicle types, distances, exceptions |
The shapes are a strong guide, not a perfect one. The one-way arrow is a blue rectangle, yet it is a regulation, not an instruction. Keikai is literally watchfulness, and hojo is literally supplementary help.
Tomare and jokō: the two upside-down triangles
Only two designs use the upside-down triangle, and they are easy to confuse. Ichiji teishi (一時停止), literally a temporary stop, is solid red with white characters: tomare, the plain command form of tomaru, to stop. Stop completely at the line, look, then go. Jokō (徐行) is white with a red border and blue characters. Jo means slowly and kō means go, and the law defines it as a speed at which you could stop immediately: closer to a crawl than to easing off.
Since July 2017, new and replaced signs add English, STOP and SLOW; older signs remain until they wear out. With a plate reading zenpō yūsen dōro, the jokō triangle also warns that the road ahead has priority. The stop sign also tells you about the road: police guidelines place it on the narrower road, or the quieter one, or the stem of a T-junction, and avoid stops in every direction. If you face tomare, the other road has priority. In a friend's car, a passenger might say this.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ここ、一時停止だよ。 | Koko, ichiji teishi da yo. | There's a stop sign here. |
| 止まれって書いてあるね。 | Tomare tte kaite aru ne. | It says stop. |
| この辺は徐行してね。 | Kono hen wa jokō shite ne. | Go really slowly around here. |
| 左右をよく見てから出てね。 | Sayū o yoku mite kara dete ne. | Look both ways before you pull out. |
No entry, road closed and one way
Three signs keep you out of a road. Sharyō shinnyū kinshi (車両進入禁止), a red disc with a white bar, is literally vehicles-entering prohibited. It usually stands at the exit end of a one-way street: the road is open, just not from this end. Its partner at the other end is ippō tsūkō (一方通行), a blue rectangle with a white arrow and no kanji on the sign itself. People shorten it to ittsū.
Tsūkōdome (通行止め), a red ring with a cross and the characters for road closed, shuts the road to everyone, pedestrians included. Sharyō tsūkōdome, a red ring with a single slash, closes it to vehicles only, so you may still walk through.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| この道、一通だから入れないよ。 | Kono michi, ittsū da kara hairenai yo. | This street is one-way, so we can't go in. |
| 工事で通行止めになっています。 | Kōji de tsūkōdome ni natte imasu. | The road is closed for construction. |
| 歩行者は通れますか。 | Hokōsha wa tōremasu ka. | Can pedestrians get through? |
| 向こうから車が来るから気をつけて。 | Mukō kara kuruma ga kuru kara ki o tsukete. | Cars come from the other end, so be careful. |
| 迂回路はありますか。 | Ukairo wa arimasu ka. | Is there a detour? |
Parking signs: one slash or a cross
The two parking signs differ by one stroke. Chūsha kinshi (駐車禁止), one red slash, bans parking. Chūteisha kinshi (駐停車禁止), a red cross, bans parking and stopping. The kanji show the logic: chū means staying, tei means stopping and sha is a vehicle. In law, parking means leaving the car so that you cannot drive off at once, or stopping for longer, such as loading for over five minutes; a brief stop to let someone out is only teisha. Under one slash, a friend may drop you off; under a cross, they may not pull over at all.
Numbers such as 8-20 give the hours when the ban applies. Locals shorten chūsha kinshi to chūkin, as you will hear when someone picks you up.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ここ駐禁だから、あっちで待ってて。 | Koko chūkin da kara, atchi de matte te. | It's no parking here, so wait over there. |
| 駐停車禁止だから、ここでは降ろせないよ。 | Chūteisha kinshi da kara, koko de wa orosenai yo. | It's no stopping here, so I can't drop you off. |
| 少しだけ止めても大丈夫ですか。 | Sukoshi dake tomete mo daijōbu desu ka. | Is it all right to stop here just for a moment? |
Signs for people on foot and on bikes
Most of the signs a pedestrian needs are blue. Ōdan hodō (横断歩道), literally cross-walking road, is a blue square with a white triangle and a walking figure, standing by pedestrian crossings. Hokōsha sen'yō (歩行者専用), pedestrians only, is a blue disc with an adult and a child; it keeps vehicles out, sometimes only at hours shown on a plate. A blue disc with a bicycle marks a path for bicycles and, since July 2023, small electric scooters; pedestrians may not use it. A disc showing a walker and a bicycle together marks a path shared by both. Cycling rules have their own guide.
Near schools, a yellow diamond with two children warns that a school or nursery is close, and within about a kilometre of the gate a white plate below it reads tsūgakuro (通学路), literally commuting-to-school road. Children walk these routes in groups each morning.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 横断歩道を渡ってください。 | Ōdan hodō o watatte kudasai. | Please use the crossing. |
| ここは歩行者専用だから、自転車は押してね。 | Koko wa hokōsha sen'yō da kara, jitensha wa oshite ne. | This is pedestrians only, so walk your bike. |
| 自転車はここを通ってもいいですか。 | Jitensha wa koko o tōtte mo ii desu ka. | May bicycles go through here? |
| 通学路だから、朝は子どもが多いよ。 | Tsūgakuro da kara, asa wa kodomo ga ōi yo. | It's a school route, so there are lots of children in the morning. |
Words painted on the road
At a junction, sign and paint work together. The stop sign stands at the roadside, level with or just before the stop line, teishisen (停止線), a solid white line. Before it, the characters for tomare are painted in the lane, stretched to three times their width, 2.4 metres long and 80 centimetres wide in the police specification, so that they look normal from a low driving seat. From the driver's seat they read top to bottom like vertical writing, with the first character nearest the stop line.
Legally, the paint is just a reminder: a 2024 National Police Agency notice allows it only where a stop sign is in force. A dashed line instead of a solid one is an advisory stop line, common in housing estates. Further back, a diamond in the lane, hishigata, warns that a crossing is ahead.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 白線の手前で止まってね。 | Hakusen no temae de tomatte ne. | Stop before the white line. |
| 道路に止まれって書いてあったよ。 | Dōro ni tomare tte kaite atta yo. | It said stop on the road. |
| 点線のところでも一度止まったほうがいいよ。 | Tensen no tokoro demo ichido tomatta hō ga ii yo. | It's best to stop once even at a dashed line. |
Beyond the basics: the white plates and the new 30 km/h rule
The white plate under a sign narrows the rule to certain times, vehicles or places, in compressed Japanese.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 日曜日は駐車してもいいですか。 | Nichiyōbi wa chūsha shite mo ii desu ka. | Is it OK to park on Sundays? |
| On the plate | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 日曜・休日を除く | nichiyō, kyūjitsu o nozoku | Except Sundays and public holidays |
| 自転車を除く | jitensha o nozoku | Except bicycles |
| ここから | koko kara | From here: the rule starts |
| ここまで | koko made | Up to here: the rule ends |
| この先100m | kono saki hyaku mētoru | For the next 100 metres |
| 区域内 | kuikinai | Within this zone |
| 通学路 | tsūgakuro | School route, under the school warning sign |
Since 1 September 2026, a road with no centre line or marked lanes has a legal limit of 30 km/h for cars when no sign says otherwise, down from 60. Roads with a centre line keep 60 unless signed. A red-ringed number still overrides the default.
Common mistakes reading Japanese road signs
Reading 8-20 as a date. The cause is Western date habits; on a sign, two numbers joined by a hyphen are hours, 8:00 to 20:00.
Treating jokō as slow down a little. The English SLOW suggests easing off, but jokō means a speed at which you could stop at once.
Assuming a one-way street does not apply to your bicycle. In Japanese law a bicycle is a vehicle, so the arrow applies unless a plate says jitensha o nozoku. Check the plate instead of copying the cyclist in front.
Walking on a bicycle-only path. At home a cycle path may be open to anyone, but the blue bicycle disc excludes pedestrians.
Relying on paint alone. Worn paint and dashed advisory lines mislead; the rule lives on the pole.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自転車を除くって書いてあるよ。 | Jitensha o nozoku tte kaite aru yo. | It says except bicycles. |
| 標識の下の板も見てね。 | Hyōshiki no shita no ita mo mite ne. | Check the plate under the sign too. |
| ここ、歩いてもいい道？ | Koko, aruite mo ii michi? | Is this a path we can walk on? |