Tokyo in Pictograms

4 Oct 2007 Category: Conscientious Design, Features, Japan

Tokyo in Pictograms

Pretty obvious: a "No Motorcycles" pictogram we found in the street.

Pictograms - those simple signs or icons that relay their information effortlessly. We’re surrounded by thousands of them every day, and PingMag took graphic designer Kazuhisa Yamamoto a.k.a. Donny Grafiks for a walk around Tokyo’s streets picking up some favourites. After his presentation of pictogram designs at last year’s DesignTide we knew he was the right man for the job.

Written by Ryoko
Translated by Rie Ishimi

Pictograms are plastered all over public spaces and facilities, but rarely command much attention. Glance around, though, and you’ll find them on toll booths, platforms, ticket gates, ticket offices and all kinds of other places.


You don’t need the text to identify a Tokyo metro sign – but you might want to step out of the way of that oncoming train.

The question mark is a universal symbol for information desks.

It’s red for danger on this security button sign. Can you figure out what to do?

The “Don’t run for your train” sign depicts… a man running for a train.

There are signs of all kinds: some disseminating information, others raising a red flag. Once we look for them, they pop up all over the place. Why so many?

”There’s a great need for pictograms in facilities frequented by people of different nationalities and languages, such as an international airport. For example, if a guide sign shows only ‘右’ [the Kanji for ’right’], you’ll never understand it unless you know Japanese. But if you use an arrow mark instead, the language difficulty disappears and you instantly know which direction to go,” says Yamamoto.

For ticket machines, head left.

One arrow points you to the elevator, two more show you how it works.

Whatever you want, it’s on your left.

“Visual warnings, such as a risk at a construction site, have to convey their message instantly. So a shape and a colour are more effective than letters. A pictogram communicates with us more easily and on a more intuitive level in all kinds of situations,” says Yamamoto.

This mishmash of colours and messages conspicuously alerts you to a construction site.

This dapper chap shouldn’t be crossing here.

“No Trucks” sign indicated with a diagonal.

No smoking and walking in Tokyo’s Shibuya ward please. Especially with cigarettes that big.

If you’re thinking of wheeling an olde-worlde luggage trolley down this street: don’t.

Places that draw a lot of international visitors demand a lot of pictograms, especially in a city such as Tokyo where visitors can’t necessarily read the native script.

The hospital is to your right. No, wait, left.

The cutest cycling sign in Yoyogi Park.

Cyclists stick to the vertical route, other folks (and ones that kind of look like pickpockets) stay on the horizontal.

“Security Cameras in Use” uses a cute but stern security guard rather than a camera icon.

Another universal sign.

So what makes a ‘good’ pictogram then?

”Basically, when people grasp its meaning at a glance. And a pictogram should have no individual expressions or unnecessary elements. With information guides at museums, art galleries or public facilities, it’s important that the message is still strong enough despite integrating images of those facilities into the designs. Also, we shouldn’t forget to think about the shape of the pictogram itself,” says Yamamoto.


In Tokyo Midtown, an upscale new shopping complex, the signs try to blend in with the building’s atmosphere: seen here, the nursery…

…and women’s restroom.

Signs used at IID, the Setagaya Creating School, were designed by Kazuhisa Yamamoto.

Lastly, we asked Mr. Yamamoto for a good statement about pictograms:

“A pictogram enables us to communicate regardless of nationality, race and age, and its universal potentiality makes it a global language.”

Pictograms by Kazuhisa Yamamoto for the Treasured Trash project at DesignTide 2006. From left to right: an illustration for plastic bottle recycling (cap, label and bottle), an illustration for recycling and lastly an illustration meaning “we=the globe (think about the Earth)”. Pretty universal.

Thanks so much for your explanations, Kazuhisa. PingMag will be producing a series about pictograms… so keep your eyes peeled.

33 Comments

  1. the 2nd cyclist pictogram (the one with the pickpocket) is hilarious! and i am totally grateful for all those signs otherwise japan would be an undecipherable puzzle of roads.

    Posted by: nwl on October 4th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

  2. im first!

    Posted by: razu on October 4th, 2007 at 7:30 pm

  3. Interesting article - I’d like to see PingMag do a specific survey of the diversity of cutesy warning signs (cats getting tails trapped in subway doors etc).

    One small thing though, the 5th image in the article actually gives no pictorial indication that you’re not supposed to rush onto trains: it’s just a guy running towards a box. It’s either the words below that clarify the context or the fact of standing in a train station when you see that sign. It’s interesting what the mind fills in without realising.

    razu: FAIL.

    Posted by: Mr Moshi Moshi on October 4th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

  4. the very last pictogram looks like more like putting a gun to your own head.. so the gesture reminds me more of ’suicide’ or and ‘you are an idiot’. ><

    Some pictograms are only unique to their region, and may not be understood universally ie. lde-worlde luggage trolley

    Posted by: oliphant on October 4th, 2007 at 8:26 pm

  5. So many signs!
    They are way cooler than here :P

    Posted by: Akai on October 4th, 2007 at 8:32 pm

  6. I also totally took that last one to be a comment on how we’re killing the Earth.

    Posted by: Sola on October 4th, 2007 at 9:28 pm

  7. I as well see the last pictogram as a comment on people’s behaviour towards the Earth and the oncoming consequences. It might on the other hand also suggest that putting a gun on your head would be a good thing - on Earth’s point of view. Save the Earth: kill yourself.

    Posted by: Amir on October 4th, 2007 at 10:37 pm

  8. Mr Yamamoto seems very clued-up about all these pictograms…so I wonder why the menu on his site is a wind-chime which indicates nothing about the content until you roll over….not being a hater…just wondered…Mr Yamamoto?

    Posted by: chris bird on October 4th, 2007 at 11:52 pm

  9. On the Shuto in Tokyo, between Ichinohashi and Shiba koen there is a pictogram of a baby sleeping surrounded by stars. I assume it is a warning to the racers to keep it quiet, but am I right?

    Posted by: Annie on October 5th, 2007 at 12:39 am

  10. [...] 4th, 2007 · No Comments Una passeggiata per le strade di Tokyo organizzata da PingMag con il grafico Kazuhisa Yamamoto, a caccia di pittogrammi, icone e [...]

    Posted by: Pittogrammi a Tokyo « Lieve on October 5th, 2007 at 1:15 am

  11. [...] PingMag presents Tokyo in pictograms. [...]

    Posted by:   Tokyo in pictograms by iconglobe on October 5th, 2007 at 2:39 am

  12. very funny captions

    Posted by: Law on October 5th, 2007 at 2:44 am

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    Posted by: AddeniArcamma on October 5th, 2007 at 3:53 am

  14. [...] PingMag -Tokyo in Pictograms [...]

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  15. That really is cool stuff.

    Posted by: Okinawa on October 5th, 2007 at 12:20 pm

  16. didnt read the article yet, but the images look cool! go pingmag!

    Posted by: china-tata on October 5th, 2007 at 1:20 pm

  17. [...] Tokyo in pictagrams [...]

    Posted by: renaissance chambara | Ged Carroll » Blog Archive » Links for 2007-10-04 [del.icio.us] on October 5th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

  18. [...] con ese toque “manga” que tanto caracteriza al país del sol naciente. Pues bien, pingmag le ha pedido al diseñador Kazuhisa Yamamoto de Donny Grafiks que recorra la ciudad de Tokio [...]

    Posted by: Barcelona’s Chiringuito » Archivo del weblog » Date una vuelta por Tokio y piérdete on October 5th, 2007 at 5:24 pm

  19. I thought the last one means “Globalization is crazy”…

    Posted by: tokyostreet on October 5th, 2007 at 6:01 pm

  20. [...] Tokyo in Pictograms [...]

    Posted by: alceste’s blog » Blog Archive » About Tokyo and Pictograms on October 5th, 2007 at 6:05 pm

  21. I find it interesting that the “don’t” signs break the diagonal for the image underneath. Here in the UK they don’t tend to do that, which makes the signs a little harder to understand.

    Posted by: Greg on October 5th, 2007 at 9:28 pm

  22. It’s really amazing to know that design can be something that is universally understood. I love the idea of how you can rely on such a simple symbol to convey a message.

    For the most part, many of the symbols are easily understood. I have to agree with the last comment about the breaks in the diagonal for the “don’t” signs though - they don’t use them that way in North America as well, hence it is a little confusing and almost gives it an opposite meaning. Isn’t there a little inconsistency though, since the sign for “Don’t run for the train” uses the full diagonal line too.

    It’ll be interesting to see how we adapt to understanding new symbols as they appear!

    Posted by: Jenny on October 5th, 2007 at 10:55 pm

  23. Its a good coverage!

    Sign do change as per country specification.
    Like in India few signs are not as common in public places as its needed.

    Posted by: Paavani on October 6th, 2007 at 2:09 pm

  24. Haha! Amusing article! Glad to know I’m not the only one who loves looking at road signs and such. ^^” Funny captions too! I love the cyclist one with the pickpocket people. =D Inspired to go around taking pictures of road signs. ^-^

    Posted by: razori on October 6th, 2007 at 4:34 pm

  25. [...] in Pictograms, is quite the culture shock. {Check it out here} Related PostsStatetris Africa = Play tetris with the MotherlandJay-Z & associates in the new [...]

    Posted by: NerdwithSwag.com » Blog Archive » Now in NWS News: For 40 years, the French government has been fighting a secret war in Africa... on October 7th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

  26. [...] intéressé un temps à ces représentations graphiques simplifiées qui se veulent universelles. Pingmap vient de poster une petite collection de ces images que l’on trouve dans les rues ou les lieux [...]

    Posted by: Hebi Flash Blog » Des pictogrammes à l’autre bout du monde on October 9th, 2007 at 2:31 am

  27. Great stuff - a nice fun piece. Agree that the last one looks like a gun though. BAM!

    Posted by: barry on October 9th, 2007 at 1:52 pm

  28. The Tokyo subway signs are like an optical illusion to me, much like the old lady/young lady illusion. I always see it as a pic of a train resting on two prongs much like an alien ship but those two downward spikes are actually the tracks…(I just saw the tracks for the first time!)
    Thanks Ping cool article of everyday symbols!

    Posted by: TOKYOMADE on October 10th, 2007 at 9:50 pm

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    Posted by: wakuwaku » Blog Archiv » Piktogramme in Tokyo on October 11th, 2007 at 10:07 pm

  30. Visual at it’s best! Especially for a Culture as visually driven like Japan!

    Posted by: nororu on February 7th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

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  32. Wow, this is interesting stuff. I love Japan! Everyday symbols we don’t think much about….

    Posted by: okinawa on December 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am

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