That Sign Is Not Saying Please Be Careful. Japanese Has a Way of Saying No Without the Word No.
To say Please refrain from eating while walking. in Japanese, say 食べ歩きはご遠慮ください (tabearuki wa go-enryo kudasai).
It looks like a gentle request. It is not a request. Once you can read this one phrase, a whole class of Japanese signs stops being polite noise.
In this video
- 食べ歩きはご遠慮ください。 tabearuki wa go-enryo kudasai. Please refrain from eating while walking.
- 「ご遠慮ください」は、やわらかい言い方です。でも、意味は「だめ」です。 "go-enryo kudasai" wa, yawarakai iikata desu. demo, imi wa "dame" desu. 「ご遠慮ください」 is a soft way of saying it. But what it means is: no.
- 店の中での写真撮影はご遠慮ください。 mise no naka de no shashin satsuei wa go-enryo kudasai. Please refrain from taking photos inside the shop.
- 車内での通話はご遠慮ください。 shanai de no tsūwa wa go-enryo kudasai. Please refrain from phone calls on the train.
- 「禁止」より、ずっとていねいですね。でも、意味は同じです。 "kinshi" yori, zutto teinei desu ne. demo, imi wa onaji desu. Much politer than 「禁止」, forbidden. But it means exactly the same thing.
- 「ご遠慮ください」と書いてあったら、やめておきましょう。 "go-enryo kudasai" to kaite attara, yamete okimashō. If it says 「ご遠慮ください」, best not to.
Kanji in this phrase
- 遠慮
- えんりょ
- 食べ歩き
- たべあるき
- 写真撮影
- しゃしんさつえい
- 禁止
- きんし
- 言い方
- いいかた
- 車内
- しゃない
- 通話
- つうわ
Why this phrase
「ご遠慮ください」 is the soft, absolute Japanese no, and it is everywhere: eating while walking on a market street, photography inside a shop, phone calls on a train. The grammar is gentle, the meaning is not. Nishiki Market in Kyoto and Kamakura's Komachi street both ask visitors this way, and nobody is going to fine you, which is exactly why being able to read it matters.
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