How do you say "STOP (sign wording)" in Japanese?

Name: Japan's Stop Sign Is a Red Triangle, and Missing It Is the Country's Number One Ticket
Uploaded: 2026-09-11T06:32:37Z
Duration: 20 s
Description: Learn to say 止まれ (tomare) — STOP (sign wording). A 30-second Japanese lesson for travelers from Kōfuku.

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Japan's Stop Sign Is a Red Triangle, and Missing It Is the Country's Number One Ticket

To say STOP (sign wording) in Japanese, say 止まれ (tomare).

You rented a car in Japan and you've already run four stop signs, because you were looking for an octagon.

止まれ tomare STOP (sign wording)

Survival sign-decode #learnjapanese #japantravel #drivinginjapan #kanji #survivaljapanese

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In this video

止まれ。止まってください。 tomare. tomatte kudasai. 'Stop.' To an actual person, it's 'please stop.'
ここで止まってください。 koko de tomatte kudasai. Please stop here.

Kanji in this phrase

止まれ: とまれ
止まって: とまって
一時停止: いちじていし

Why this phrase

Japan's 一時停止 sign is an upside-down red triangle reading 止まれ, no octagon anywhere. Since 2017 the new ones print STOP underneath, but plenty of older ones are just the kanji, and 一時不停止 was the single most ticketed offence in Japan in 2024, ahead of speeding: two points and a seven thousand yen fine in a standard car. 止まれ is a command form only signs and police get to use; to an actual person it's 止まってください.