Linguistic Landscape

of Shinjuku
(Tokyo, Japan)

Group 4
Nguyen Thi Thanh
Tran Thi My Huyen
Pham Ngoc Minh
 Content Structure

I. Background knowledge

1. Shinjuku, Tokyo
2. Theoretical knowledge

II. Linguistic landscape of Shinjuku

1. Regulatory discourse
2. Infrastructure discourse
3. Commercial discourse
4. Transgressive discourse

III. Conclusion
 I.
Background
Knowledge
1. Shinjuku (video)
 1. Shinjuku (Tokyo)
Location:
● A major commercial and administrative center
of Tokyo
Foreign residents:
● 43,068 foreign residents
● South and North Korean nationals, Chinese,
and Americans made up over 80%
(nippo.com, 2019)

Written Japanese:
● Kanji ( 漢字 )
● Hiragana ( ひらがな )
● Katakana ( カタカナ )
●
Shinjuku
Roman alphabet
 2. Theoretical knowledge
Definition

Linguistic landscape
The language of public road signs, advertising billboards,
street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and
public signs on government buildings combine to form the
linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban
agglomeration.

(Landry & Bourhis, 1997, p. 25)

 2. Theoretical knowledge

Space
Where a sign is placed refers to its meaning and the sign maker’s
intention.
(Evans & Mooney, 2018)

Geosemiotics
The study of the social meaning of the material placement of
signs in the world. By signs, we mean to include any semiotic
system including language and discourse.
(Scollon and Scollon, 2003)
 2. Linguistic landscape

Four types of signs according to Scollon and Scollon (2003)

● Regulatory discourse – signs indicating official/legal prohibitions

● Infrastructural discourse – infrastructure, street names

● Commercial discourse – advertising and related signages

● Transgressive discourse – violating signs, graffiti; any sign in the

“wrong space”
 II.
Linguistic landscape of Shinjuku
1.
Regulatory discourse
 1. Regulatory discourse
Bilingual signs: Japanese + English
Expression:
● Pictogram
● Japanese above English
● Japanese > English (color, size)

Language Policy in Shinjuku, Tokyo

● Hyojungo: Standard language
● Japanese: prominent position
● Versions of translation - complementary

→ Dominance of national power

 1. Regulatory discourse

“No smoking sign”

禁煙 (kin’ en): “smoking prohibit”
(word-by-word translation)

Do you have another version of translation?

禁煙 (Kin'en) → “No smoking”, “No

cigarettes”
“No tobacco”, “ Don’t smoke”
→ Why is “No smoking” chosen?
 1. Regulatory discourse

In English: structure of prohibition

● No + noun/gerund (1)
● Don’t + V (2)

→ Why is (1) chosen?

 1. Regulatory discourse
Why is (1) No + noun/gerund chosen in the sign?

Brown and Levinson (2009):

Face: public self image
● Positive face: a desire for connection with others
● Negative face: desire for autonomy and independence

Politeness strategies minimize threats to face

● Positive politeness strategy: minimize the threat to the
hearer's positive face
● Negative politeness strategy: minimize the threat to the
hearer's negative face
 1. Regulatory discourse
In English: structure of prohibition
● No + noun/gerund (1)

● Don’t + V (2)
(implication of anger)

Politeness in English expression: positive politeness

→ (1) is chosen to ensure politeness

to both Japanese and foreigners
 1. Regulatory discourse

Tobacco Cigarette Smoking (smoke a cigarette)

● No cigarettes" ~ "No smoking"

● "Smoking" → specifically to “cigarettes”

Context:
Japan: many people die of active and passive smoking
(Japanese Ministry of Health, 2020)
→ Ban actions of smoking cigarettes
Japanese: ” おタバコはご遠慮くださ
い”

English: “Please refrain from smoking”

● Honorific expression:
“kudasai” = “please” in English

→ Politeness in Japanese culture

(Negative politeness)

Brown and Levinson’s (1987):

Strategies for negative politeness are preferred in Japanese
 1. Regulatory discourse

→ Politeness is important in Japanese culture

2.
Infrastructure discourse
 2. Infrastructure discourse

Road name signs include:

- Japanese name above
● "Dori": the east/west avenues
● "Suji": north/south avenues
- Romanji (pronunciation) + dori/ suji
- Number

Shinjuku and other areas:

No names for streets, but names for major road
2. Infrastructure discourse

Shinjuku Hanoi, Vietnam

Comparison: What is the difference between name signs on road in Shinjuku (Tokyo,
Japan) and Ha Noi (Vietnam)? What is the reason?
 Discussion
Question: What is the difference between name signs on road in
Shinjuku (Tokyo, Japan) and Ha Noi (Vietnam)? What is the reason for
the difference?
Time: 4 minutes
Group 1 Long, Thư, Xuân Quỳnh, Tươi, Hường, Giang, Uyên

Group 2 Thu, Thu Trang, Minh Trang, Yến, Oanh, Bùi Yến

Group 3 Duyên, Huyền, My, Quỳnh, Thu Hường, Ngọc, Nam

Group 4 Hoàng Yến, Trinh, Loan, Dung, Hương, Hiếu

2. Infrastructure discourse

Street/ Road name signs in Hanoi,

Road name signs in Shinjuku
Vietnam

● No street names ● Named after relics or historical

figures: Ho Hoan Kiem, Vo Nguyen
Giap
● Named based on geographical features
or Nature
“Shinjuku” = "New Inn Ward"
Eg: -shuku or -juku ( 宿 ), a post or station
town on a traditional highway
→ embracement towards nature and → embracement towards history and
geographical features cultures
 2. Infrastructure discourse

Road direction sign used ( before 2019) The recent street sign since 2019

Since 2019: English is added beneath Japanese: “Ave” ( Avenue)

Why have most Japanese signs been changed into Japanese - English ones since 2019?
→ The 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games
(Changes in infrastructure to facilitate the foreigners’ visits)
3.
Commercial
discourse
 3. Commercial discourse

Monolingual signs

カラオケ
“karaoke”

Karaoke: Collective values

creating, maintaining, and strengthening
relationship with each other

Karaoke sign on Kabukicho street

 3. Commercial discourse
Monolingual signs

“Cafe88” - “No charge”

→ The prominence of English in

non-English speaking locations
in Japan

“Signs containing foreign

languages in many cases are
used primarily to attract the
attention of domestic readers”
(Peter,
A cafe in Shinjuku Kabukicho street
2010)
 3. Commercial discourse

English in Japan is often associated

with modernity and
internationalisation
(Backhaus, 2007, 2009; Inoue, 2005; Tanaka, 1994)

a symbol of modernity

● "New": a substitute for 新しい (atarashii)

→ Integration in the English language community and to associate with the values
 3. Commercial discourse

Advertisements
+ Japanese is optional in these signs
+ Korean is mainly used with big sizes in the signs

Definition
Heritage language is used to identify languages
other than the dominant language in a given social
context (Kelleher, 2010)

→ Korean is a heritage language

 Clarification

South Korea's population

● A common ethnic, cultural, and linguistic

heritage
● A tightly knit national community with
● a common destiny

→ Korean identity and nationalism through

the use of Korean in every commercial sign
in Shin-Okubo - a Korean Town in Tokyo
 A special service

“Free”
● Introduce a store that 無料案内所
“free information
meets the needs of center”
customers
● Not deal with
foreigners

いらっしゃいませ
“welcome”
→ Red - light streets
(an outstanding feature in Shinjuku)
Language on advertisements:
● Japanese is optional

Some regulations for advertisements:

Place
No advertisements in prohibited areas

Size
5m2 in size in densely populated areas
Compatibility
Products with the general landscape of the
neighborhood
4.
Transgressive discourse
 Graffiti

Definition:
Graffiti derives from the Latin, graphīre, which means to
write but is directly related to the Italian graffito for
inscription or design; the noun literally means “to scratch.”
Oxford dictionary (2013) defines it as “writing or drawings
scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or
other surface in a public place.”
Graffiti (video)
 Graffiti
in Shinjuku

No order of languages
→ Unstable power relation of groups

Shinjuku:

● High crime, due to drug gangs

● A prison in the area
● Lack of security cameras
 Discussion
Question:
Group 1&2: Why do some people in Shinjuku see graffiti as vandalism?
Group 3&4: Why do some people in Shinjuku see graffiti as street art?
Time: 4 minutes

Group 1 Long, Thư, Xuân Quỳnh, Tươi, Hường, Giang, Uyên

Group 2 Thu, Thu Trang, Minh Trang, Yến, Oanh, Bùi Yến

Group 3 Duyên, Huyền, My, Quỳnh, Thu Hường, Ngọc, Nam

Group 4 Hoàng Yến, Trinh, Loan, Dung, Hương, Hiếu

 Vandalism
Graffiti : rakugaki ( 落書き )
Japanese culture: keep things clean, neat, and nice

The type of doodles that children make on class

desks
→ Drawing on public walls and spaces - a
crime (punishment and jail)
 Art

● Integration with the world

● Insistence of individuality and identity
● Attraction to foreigners

→ A powerful way of expressing talent,

creativity, culture, social and political
views
 III.
Conclusion
 III. Conclusion

Four types:
● Regulatory Discourse
● Infrastructure Discourse
● Commercial Discourse
● Transgressive Discourse
Language contact:
Cultural values and events
(internationalization, etc.)

→ Linguistic landscape in Shinjuku

shows the culture and society
 References
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DOI:10.1080/14790710608668385

Backhaus, P. (2007). Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo. Multilingual Matters.. DOI:10.21832/9781853599484

Gorter, D. (2006). Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism. Multilingual Matters.

Scollon, R., & Scollon, S. W. (2003). Discourses in Place: Language in the Material World. DOI:10.4324/9780203422724

Backhaus, P. (2010). Multilingualism in Japanese Public Space – Reading the Signs. Academia. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/9143513/Multilingualism_in_Japanese_Public_Space_Reading_the_Signs

Bishop, J. (2018). Munich Named The Most Livable City In The World. Forbes. Retrieved from
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(2019). The Changing Face of Tokyo: One in Eight Shinjuku Residents Are Foreign Nationals. nippon.com. Retrieved from
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Finally in Japan, Health ministry urges smoking ban for restaurants. Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance. Retrieved from
https://seatca.org/finally-in-japan-health-ministry-urges-smoking-ban-for-restaurants-other-indoor-spaces/?
fbclid=IwAR3_MYKOkTB7uHSZPCiwvTERP5o17oGlLzWtF20Cvt21j4xDeO3UsaW9ypU

Evans, B & Mooney, A. (2018). Language, Society and Power. Routledge.

Craigs Cache. (2020). Graffiti in Tokyo Japan 2 東京にあるグラフィティー落書 [Video]

Youtube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=2JtFXfbYwrI

NIPPON WANDERING TV. (2018). Cyberpunk 2018 TOKYO Shinjuku 4K. [Video].
Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHVi0GCFyc
Thank you for listening