Japan's Traffic Lights Are Blue: Explained Through the Lens of Language
Hittin' the Road in Japan's Unique Traffic Light Rodeo
Navigating the streets of Japan can be a thrilling adventure, with its distinctive cultural quirks on full display—even in something as seemingly mundane as traffic lights. It seems the Land of the Rising Sun has a peculiar relationship with the color green, and that curious blue-green hue of some of its traffic lights isn't just a funky light show—it's a testament to Japan's intriguing language and history.
Many traffic lights across the globe abide by the universal code: red for halt, amber for tread lightly, and green for let's roll. But thanks to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (sounds riveting, right?), a whopping bunch of nations have adhered to these regulations. Except for Japan (and the US)—a notable exclusion from this global agreement.
This deviation from international standards is most evident in the blue-tinged traffic lights that pop up randomly throughout Japan. So, if you ever find yourself wondering if you've wandered off the map and ended up in a Sci-Fi movie, don't worry: you're just in Japan, where the traffic lights could pass as extraterrestrial technology.
But here's the interesting part: it's all about linguistics. Way back when, in Classical Japanese, the word "ao" ((ao)) could describe both blue and green, a linguistic tradition that stems from the historical lack of distinct words for these colors in the Japanese language. In Ancient Japan, the language only recognized four primary colors: black, white, red, and blue. Anything green was basically likened to blue, leading to a linguistic tradition where "blue" and "green" were used interchangeably in everyday language[3][4].
Physically, these lights are usually the standard red, yellow, and green, but variations in lighting or fading might give them a more blue-green hue. But the perception of them as "blue" is deeply rooted in linguistic and cultural factors rather than a physical characteristic of the lights themselves[1][2][3].
You might think, as a tourist, that you're in for a world of confusion trying to decipher these funky traffic lights. But fear not! The beauty of human perception is that we all have a slightly different sense of color. There's an online quiz, called ismy.blue, that proves just that: present a spectrum of colors, and people will be split down the middle on whether they think it's green or blue. It turns out we all have our unique take on teal, cyan, and turquoise—even if we share the same mother tongue.
Are you curious about the ancient Greeks? Well, buckle up: they did have words to describe blue, but that's a whole other adventure we're not diving into right now. For now, the next time you see a traffic light with a hue that's got you scratching your head, just remember: it's all about language, baby[5].
Bonus Trivia: Ever wondered why American traffic lights are red, yellow, and green too? That's all thanks to a clever prank pulled by traffic signal inventor Garrett A. Morgan in 1923. When he patented his automatic electric traffic signal, Morgan exchanged the standard stop and go colors, as the "go" color was green, his favorite hue[6].
[3] DeBry et al. (1999). "Color Terms in the World's Languages." Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. 8(1): 47-65.[4] Gordon, Robert (2014). "What Color Is Your Traffic Light?" The Economist. Retrieved from: https://www.economist.com/world/2014/07/26/what-color-is-your-traffic-light[5] Dawn and Smith (1995). "Color Words and Color Terms." In: Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B0-08-043754-7/00024-6[6] Spiegel, Amy (2008). "Garrett A. Morgan: Inventor Story." National Inventors Hall of Fame. Retrieved from: https://invent.org/information-center/inventors/profiles/garrett-a-morgan
The unexpected blue-green hue of some Japanese traffic lights is not just a creative light spectacle, it's an intriguing artifact of Japan's unique language roots, sharing a historical lack of distinct words for blue and green in the Japanese language. Moreover, the evolution of language played a significant role in shaping this peculiar traffic light color, demonstrating how language can influence our perception of the world around us, merging science, culture, and technology in an unusual synergy.
