ABSTRACT
An early document about sign writing is the “Tokyo Manual about Official Signs” (TMG 1991; henceforth “TMG Sign Manual”). It was developed by the Commission for Official Signs and first issued in 1990. It contains the following general guideline about language use on official signs:
In order to keep up with internationalization, we make it a principle to use Japanese together with English. To make place names, etc., easily understandable to small children and foreigners who can read hiragana, we further make it a principle to add hiragana to Japanese-English information about names.
