Let's Go For a Drive Around Japan Quiz

Answer: You can only go 30km an hour or slower

In Japan, the speed limits are sometimes posted on the side of the road, sometimes painted on the road (like here) and sometimes you just have to know what they are. It can get very confusing, and it is real easy to get a ticket if the road paint has worn off. Be careful!

Answer: Stop

Japan's stop signs stand out because they're usually an upside-down red triangle with white text, while almost all other countries use the familiar red octagon. Japan originally used a different stop sign design after World War II, and for years it was written vertically with the word "止まれ" ("stop") in Japanese.

In 1963, the country standardized the inverted triangle design because it was easier to recognize and harder to confuse with other signs. By contrast, the red octagonal stop sign became internationally famous after being adopted in the United States and later spread to most other countries (with over 90% of countries using the octagon) through global traffic conventions like the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.

Answer: Yes, it is fine right now

This is a school zone sign and it excludes cars from traveling on this road from 7:30-8:30 am on weekdays. The Japanese underneath explicitly states that the school zone rules do not apply during weekends or public holidays. These signs can be tricky, because rarely they give the allowed, rather than the excluded times, and so you need to be careful when reading them...especially when driving at speed.

Answer: No, the sign says only go straight or turn left

These blue signs with arrows are the most confusing for me, especially as an American. I am so used to signs telling me NOT to turn left or right, not ones that tell me what I CAN do, that these little blue monsters are responsible for nearly all of the traffic tickets I have ever gotten.

This isn't just me. The police know these are hard to understand and you will see them waiting to nab motorists at particularly hard to understand junctions on the regular.

Answer: You can turn either way

This awful little sign sits about 2km from my house. It says that the two-way traffic from the right becomes one-way traffic to the left. Why this sign exists and what the point of it is is anyone's guess as the street just ends in less than 4 meters from here.

This sign absolutely baffles newcomers to my town and I will sit at the 7-11 right next to here sometimes and have a beer watching them as they stop, read the sign, read it again and then try to figure out what the heck to do with themselves. I have watched more than one car just reverse, turn around, and drive away rather than try and risk figuring out what to do here.

Answer: No overtaking on the right

Do not overtake on the right. Most roads have a solid or dashed line to let you know when overtaking is OK, but some roads are unpainted. In those cases, if you see this sign, you are not allowed to pass another car, usually for the next 500 meters, but like everything else here, the rules can vary. Best just to take your time and get where you are going whenever you get there.

Answer: One way, do not enter

Whew, this is one of the only easy signs on the list, at least for Americans and Canadians. This simply means do not enter, and almost always indicates that the road is one way. But again, this symbol does not need to be on a sign, and can instead be just painted on the road. Keep your head on a swivel.

Answer: Yes

Yes. A sign that looks like this with a single line through it means that you can stop on the side of the road with your blinkers on as long as the driver stays in the car. Basically this is a no parking sign, but standing is allowed.

Answer: No

Absolutely not. The sign with the double limes through it means that no car is allowed to either park or stand. You need to keep the traffic flow moving and if you don't you risk a ticket, or worse tongue clicks of disapproval from the obasans (old ladies) that seem to constantly pop up when you do something wrong in Japan.

Answer: A parking lot and spaces are available

This is a parking lot, and the kanji under it means that spaces are available. If the parking lot is full it will say 満 or "man" meaning full. The kanji you see now is "aki" or open, and the crack about this being for members of a karate school is because the first kanji for karate is this one, as karate means "open hand".