6

What's the name of these "banners" used in Japanese restaurants?

I'm interested in both Japanese name and English name (closest approximation).

Thank you.

enter image description here

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    I'd call them "banners". Hard to be any more specific without knowing what they say/signify. (Although if they covered the top edge of the windows, and especially if a part of a curtain system, then they might be viewed as comprising a "valance".)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 0:49

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
10

In Japanese, it's called a noren (written 暖簾 in Japanese orthography).

English doesn't have a common term for noren, so the word has been borrowed into English, but if you use it in English you'll probably have to define it so your audience knows what you mean. You can see this sort of use on the English Wikipedia page for noren:

Noren (暖簾) are traditional Japanese fabric dividers, hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. They usually have one or more vertical slits cut from the bottom to nearly the top of the fabric, allowing for easier passage or viewing. Noren are rectangular and come in many different materials, sizes, colors, and patterns.

Since the loanword noren isn't known to most English speakers, phrases like shop curtain or noren curtain are sometimes used in English instead, but unless the reader is familiar with the type of curtain you're talking about, it's likely to be unclear without further explanation.

You can see more examples of what qualify as noren in a Google Image Search for 暖簾.

Improve this answer
1

This specific example you gave is a “restaurant menu” from the Kukuru restaurant in Osaka Japan. Or, basically they are “signs”, or “signage” in English. (or as you simply state, "banners".)

Menu - 1.) a list of the dishes served at a meal; bill of fare: 2.) the dishes served.

Sign - 5.) a notice, bearing a name, direction, warning, or advertisement, that is displayed or posted for public view:

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    The OP asked about the object, not the text/symbols on the object. Calling these pieces of cloth "menus" does not answer the question about what the objects are called, and calling them "signs" is too vague. In English we have many words for signs (billboards, marquees, placards, banners) each of which conjures up a specific image of a physical object without concern for what is written on them. As posted by @snailboat above these objects are called "noren" and the fact that the particular noren pictured are being used to display menu items is irrelevant to the question.
    – O.M.Y.
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 5:15
  • 1
    @O.M.Y. - yeah, unless this is an English language board; defining for people what English language speakers would use for such a sign.
    – Larry
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 5:40
0

The OP asked for "both Japanese name and English name (closest approximation)."

The Japanese name is "noren" (as answered quite well by @snailboat).

As for the "closest approximation" in English the answer is in fact {...pause for drumroll...} "banner"! -- "a sign painted on cloth and hung over a street, entrance, etc.".

The word "sign" is technically correct but is not the "closest" as it is a far more generic word (note that sign is used in the definition of the more precise word banner.)

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .