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Help reading a neon sign - 09-09-2011, 05:19 AM

Hi,

I've got two photographs (taken at different intervals) depicting a neon sign/billboard in Tokyo. Any idea what does it read?

It'll be fantastic if someone out here could help me out.

Thanks in advance
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masaegu (Offline)
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09-09-2011, 05:34 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by coolcopy View Post
Hi,

I've got two photographs (taken at different intervals) depicting a neon sign/billboard in Tokyo. Any idea what does it read?

It'll be fantastic if someone out here could help me out.

Thanks in advance
三千里薬品 = Sanzenri Yakuhin

It is the name of a drugstore chain.
美と健康に奉仕する三千里薬品 | 三千里薬品
 


Your Japanese proficiency shall be in direct proportion
to your true interest in the Japanese Mind.
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Thanks a ton! - 09-09-2011, 10:54 AM

Thanks a ton for the speedy reply

Really appreciate it!

Cheers and take care,

Viju
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09-09-2011, 04:00 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by masaegu View Post
三千里薬品 = Sanzenri Yakuhin

It is the name of a drugstore chain.
美と健康に奉仕する三千里薬品 | 三千里薬品
 
And the award for the most anticlimactic neon sign of all time goes to...
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Actually, not so :-) - 09-10-2011, 04:58 PM

Anti-climactic? It sure looks like it... Then again, you probably said that because I didn't make the context clear enough

That neon features in one of the earlier scenes from ''Lost in Translation'', the movie with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Bob (Bill Murray's character in the film) arrives in Tokyo at night, and is on a taxi ride to his hotel. He passes a few (actually, many!) billboards/neons on his way to the hotel. Towards the end of his ride, there's a moment when he looks up at this particular sign for a few seconds.

And that's the one I posted.

Now, in relation to the movie, there doesn't seem to be any particular significance. I mean, hey, what's so special about just another sign board in Tokyo? But this question came up on one of the movie forums I frequent. The OP wanted to figure out what was said on that sign.

Thinking about it, was there something really different about that ordinary-looking neon that made Bob pay more attention to it?

Now that we know what it means, maybe it adds more depth to the scene. Just my guess

Cheers, take care and have a great weekend!

Viju

P.S. Sorry for the exposition. Just felt I needed to explain the background.
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09-10-2011, 06:29 PM

coolcopy I just meant that the billboard is really eye-catching and looks awesome and exciting, but then it's for a pharmacy.

It's like an announcer in those movie trailers: IN A WORLD...WHERE GLORY...IS RARELY GIVEN FREELY...THERE IS ONE MAN...WHO WILL MEET HIS DESTINY............Robin Williams is...the man who walked from the couch to the refrigerator."
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