4 ms·
I think in the past the Japanese simply didn't make much of a distinction between blue and green and the traffic lights are an artifact of that.
by whytaka 9y ago
I think in the past the Japanese simply didn't make much of a distinction between blue and green and the traffic lights are an artifact of that.
- ekianjo 9y agoI don't think that's the case. Several cultures (not just Japan by the way) don't really have different wordings for blue and green until recent History but this has nothing to do with them not being able to do make such distinction in practice.
- Accacin 9y agoAs far as my basic Mandarain knowledge goes it was like this in Mandarin too (qīng) but I know there's seperate words for blue and green in Mandarin now.
- bruxis 9y agoA side note, now that I've recently moved to Japan, purely green lights, be them street lights or cross-walk signals, (and fruit/vegetables, oddly) are called "あお" (ao, blue) and not "みどり" (midori, green). It throws me off constantly...
- kalleboo 9y agoIsn't that exactly what the article is about?
- bruxis 9y agoIt passingly mentions that the now entirely-green lights are still frequently referred to as blue, but living in Tokyo, I very rarely see a light that I would describe as blue-toned, which seems to be the focus of the history in the article here.
- hkmurakami 9y agoWell the article mentions that the government passed legislation in 1976 to change all the "blue" lights to a tone that is the bluest shade of green.