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[denise]

Don't get me wrong--so far I like a lot more about Japan than I dislike. On the list of dislikes, however, are those blue roadsigns announcing turns, new routes, etc. Hell, any road signs of any color seem to vex me these days.

Recently, I've had a few less-than-efficient driving experiences:

While trying to get from one little mountain village to another, both very close to my home, I thought I'd follow some of the roadsigns and take a short cut, rather than having to go all the way back to the main highway. Oooops, big mistake. Attempt #1 just looped me through another village and dumped me right where I started. Attempt #2 landed me on the main highway that I was trying to avoid. Attempt #3 had me doing all sorts of off-road stunts, navigating unpaved stretches of gravel, etc. And all the while, there I was obediently following those wily little roadsigns. (One of which actually indicated that my destination was a mere 4km away--NOT!)

Over the summer, my friends and I got lost trying to find Yokohama. How can you miss a city of, what, 3 million?!?!? Yet there we were, backtracking, going the wrong way on the expressways, making smaller and smaller concentric circles until finally we found it--only to realize that it was still some 30km away...

Am I the only one who now shudders with fear at the sight of those blue road signs? Or is getting lost just part of the Japan Experience?

d

[Great Teacher Umikun]

I feel your pain! I was riding with a colleague of mine from Mito to Tsukuba (Ibaraki prefecture) last night and got lost. We had to stop for directions twice and finally got back home at 11. The directive signage isn't that good. Next time I need to go to Mito, I'll take the train. Trains never lose their way.

On the issue of unique signage, I think the design of Japanese STOP signs (like a YIELD sign, but solid red) looks much more distinct than the traditional octagon used elsewhere.

[shmooj]

[ironopolis]

There are a few things on the roads here which I think are a good idea. For example, a couple of fairly complex interchanges I often use here in Kyushu have a useful colour-coding system where the colour of the signs for each exit is matched by the colour of the road of each one. I also appreciate the yellow signs telling me there are speed cameras to watch out for

But mostly, in quite a lot of driving in Japan, I've found that signs, particularly direction ones are really, really poor. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were deliberately that way so as to sell more car navis!
SO often I've been following the signs for my destination and have released I should have taken a different turn several km back and then gone back to said turning to find that indeed there was no indication whatsoever that I should've turned there.


Over the years driving here, I've generally found that good shortcuts are really few and far between; either everyone knows about them and they take even longer or the local authority has wised up to people using it and has put in a strategic "no entry" sign or similar to block your path. The other danger is that the police seem to favour well-known short-cuts for speed traps.