The Sign and Billboard Blog

Now for today's sign, which is actually more of a combination of garland and sign. In front of Japan's famous pachinko parlors, some very colorful wreaths can be found strung across or near the entrance. In the middle are pictures or advertisements for the parlor.

These wreaths are both an auspicious charm, and a way to advertise the parlor. The wreaths themselves are a traditional Japanese way to bestow good luck and best wishes on anyone entering the parlor. They typically use a multi-colored floral arrangement and are placed somewhere near the parlor that will catch the eye of passers-by and, of course, bring good luck down on them!

The disks or picures in the middle of the wreath can vary, but as we can see from the wreath on the right, this one features traditional Japanese auspicious symbolism. In the boat, we can see a Japanese carp - or koi (鯉), which is a traditional Japanese symbol of good luck. On the right side of the boat are boxes of fortunes and the ship, which is bringing lots of luck to the person who steps inside! Other wreaths feature an advertisement for the casino itself, with the name often in big bold characters. 

These wreaths are a nice example of traditionalism being put to good use as a way of advertising in the modern age!

Sources:

-http://www.galenfrysinger.com/pachinko_japan.htm

(Image attributions. Pachinko wreath: Angie from Sawara, Chiba-ken, Japan. Used via Wikimedia Commons per Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 generic license.)