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I think we ought adopt a writing system similar to the Japanese, with Chinese characters. When I've been to Japan, I've seen areas with lots of advertising, but

I think we ought adopt a writing system similar to the Japanese, with Chinese characters. When I've been to Japan, I've seen areas with lots of advertising, but it looks pretty because of the Chinese characters being used. So, I'm thinking it's our ugly Latin alphabet that is the real problem here, not ads.

madeofpalk 11y ago
The grass always looks greener on the other side. Perhaps when the Japanese come to western countries they admire the simplicity of our Latin alphabet and think our ads are better than the pictograph-laden Japanese ones.
- ahmedfromtunis 11y ago
  It'd be really interesting if a Japanese person can confirm this!
- bojo 11y ago
  I've actually had this conversation here in Japan. It was pointed out to me that Western signs are incredibly drab compared to those written with Chinese characters. The primary reasoning as explained to me was that the Chinese characters tend to be incorporated as a main part of the design, while Latin characters tend to be used in a more practical nature and supplemented with other design features. Very subjective of course, but an opinion I find myself agreeing to. For the record, Chinese characters (Japanese kanji) are considered ideographic. Pictographic implies that the meaning of the symbol can be derived from the design itself, which isn't true for the vast majority of Chinese characters. Only a small subset are actually pictographic in nature.
  - rangibaby 11y ago
    Japanese design trends roughly follow the same timeline as Western ones. "Modern" brands eg Toyota will use katakana or a "gothic" kanji typeface, similar to a sans serif.
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visakanv 11y ago
Can you read Japanese? The problem might not be the characters themselves, but the fact that you can understand what's being written. I was working at a cafe in a foreign country a while ago, and I really enjoyed the background noise because I couldn't understand anything anybody was saying. It wasn't distracting at all. If somebody was speaking English though, I'd be unintentionally using some of my brain to process whatever they were saying.
- jensen123 11y ago
  That's an interesting point. The last time I was in Japan, I could not read anything. However, I've learned some now, so maybe the ads will be more annoying the next time I visit :-)
  - wodenokoto 11y ago
    No you won't. If you're still learning you're gonna spend a lot of time trying to decipher ads and reap great enjoyment whenever you succeed.

madeofpalk 11y ago

The grass always looks greener on the other side. Perhaps when the Japanese come to western countries they admire the simplicity of our Latin alphabet and think our ads are better than the pictograph-laden Japanese ones.

ahmedfromtunis 11y ago
It'd be really interesting if a Japanese person can confirm this!
bojo 11y ago
I've actually had this conversation here in Japan. It was pointed out to me that Western signs are incredibly drab compared to those written with Chinese characters. The primary reasoning as explained to me was that the Chinese characters tend to be incorporated as a main part of the design, while Latin characters tend to be used in a more practical nature and supplemented with other design features. Very subjective of course, but an opinion I find myself agreeing to. For the record, Chinese characters (Japanese kanji) are considered ideographic. Pictographic implies that the meaning of the symbol can be derived from the design itself, which isn't true for the vast majority of Chinese characters. Only a small subset are actually pictographic in nature.
- rangibaby 11y ago
  Japanese design trends roughly follow the same timeline as Western ones. "Modern" brands eg Toyota will use katakana or a "gothic" kanji typeface, similar to a sans serif.

deleted 11y ago

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visakanv 11y ago

Can you read Japanese? The problem might not be the characters themselves, but the fact that you can understand what's being written. I was working at a cafe in a foreign country a while ago, and I really enjoyed the background noise because I couldn't understand anything anybody was saying. It wasn't distracting at all. If somebody was speaking English though, I'd be unintentionally using some of my brain to process whatever they were saying.

jensen123 11y ago
That's an interesting point. The last time I was in Japan, I could not read anything. However, I've learned some now, so maybe the ads will be more annoying the next time I visit :-)
- wodenokoto 11y ago
  No you won't. If you're still learning you're gonna spend a lot of time trying to decipher ads and reap great enjoyment whenever you succeed.