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Muryo-Annai Jyo (Kanon Iwata)
Types of Content
INTRODUCTION
This introductory page will discuss contents on Muryo-Annai Jyo’s signboards. It is important to understand signboards’ contents in order to deeply analyze each content. According to Gaurav (2005), “The most pertinent factor in deconstructing signboards is that they form a part of the “identity” that is deliberately created to project a desired personality. This fact suggests that signboards are culturally relevant, and reflect the aspiration of a group of people.”
When you look at signboards of Muryo-Annai Jyo, you would find there are various texts and images on them. Thus, all textual and visual signs are important since they reflect Kabuki-Cho’s culture. This page will introduce 6 kinds of content on Muryo-Annai Jyo’s signboards.
Names of Muryo-Annai Jyo
Most Muryo-Annai Jyo have their own unique names, and they express their concepts of Muryo-Annai Jyo. For example, some Muryo-Annai Jyo use parody for their names to attract people’s attentions or to make people laugh. The other Muryo-Annai Jyo have positive words on their names such as “Manzoku (satisfaction)”, “Smart”, “Nice”, “Jyohouou (king of information)”, and others. Also, there are some cute names like “Angel”. As each Muryo-Annai Jyo has different names depending on their concepts, the name of Muryo-Annai Jyo tells us their various cultural messages.
Service Contents
Muryo-Annai Jyo’s signboards have the list of their services. They suggest their partner stores’ services such as host/hostess clubs, sexy kyabakura, health, pink salon, soap land, and girls/boys bars. Customers see the list of services on the signboards, then decide whether they enter Muryo-Annai Jyo or not. Depends on different Muryo-Annai Jyo, their services are also different.
Images
Images on signboards play an important role to attract people’s attentions. There are several kinds of images such as the picture of people, the original mascots, the icon, and others. As well as names of Muryo-Annai Jyo, the use of images is totally different depending on their concepts. Near the entrance, some Muryo-Annai Jyo display the images of host and hostess in their parter host/hostess clubs, while the other put the image of geisha on the signboard. This project will use semiotics to analyze images on Muryo-Annai Jyo’s signboards and understand what kinds of cultural messages each image represents.
Hanging curtains
It is interesting to see all Muryo-Annai Jyo in Kabuki-Cho have hanging curtains to hind their inside. On the hanging curtain, there are several texts on it as well. Then, what kinds of effects does a hanging curtain have? One of the reasons for having hanging curtains is because people under 18 years old cannot enter Muryo-Annai jyo. Since they introduce business regarding alcohol drinking and industry, underage people cannot use Muryo-Annai Jyo.
Texts
Signboards of each Muryo-Annai Jyo have several types of texts on them, and we can understand the cultural messages through the use of language. For example, regarding the form of language, there are several forms such as honorifics and casual words, and some signboards use both Japan and English. Also, depending on each text, the created meanings are different. Nordquist (2019) mentions that
All language has the capacity for indexical function, but some expressions and communicative events suggest more indexicality than do others.
Thus, by putting all texts together, we can comprehend how texts on signboards indicate (or imply) culture of Kabuki-Cho.
Neon Lights
kabuki-Cho is one of the biggest night life and neon lights districts in Japan, and some Muryo-Annai Jyo around Kabukio-Cho also use neon lights for their signboards. Neon lights not only make signboards stand out , but also suggests certain cultural meanings. Moreover, colors can be signs as well, different colors index different meanings. This project will find out how neon lights and colors of signboards show the distinctiveness of Kabuki-Cho.
Conclusion
Looking at types of content on Muryo-Annai Jyo’s signboards, we found there are many textual and visual signs. Muryo-Annai Jyo is mystery for someone who do not know about Kabuki-Cho well. Some people may think Muryo-Annai Jyo is scary because they cannot see inside or they do not know the difference between legal and illegal Muryo-Annai Jyo. On the other hand, some people think Muryo-Annai Jyo is very attractive since the signboard uses colorful neon lights. Through analysis of Muryo-Annai Jyo’s signboards, we explore representations of texts, images, and colors, and try to understand how they create Kabuki-Cho’s culture and atmosphere.