Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 169, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1917 — Signboards in Japan. [ARTICLE]

Signboards in Japan.

It is not known when the signboards first came into use in Japan, but presumably it was not long after the introduction of writing, though that would not be necessary among a people where pictures and designs preceded ideographs representing them. Indeed, Japanese writing, like Chinese, consists of signs rather than expressions of sound, says T. Nakayama, M. Coltgny writes in the Cincinnati Enquirer. The national ideographs are for the eye rather than the ear; to be seen rather than to be heard. There is no mention in Japanese history of the fact that in the reign of Emperor Godaigo (1319-1339) each government official set up a door plate signifying his name and occupation, which may be regarded as the first mention of signs in Japan.