This is a sign offering services of the Yamato Transport Company (corporate overview and history, in English). I'd see this all over, but it was quite a while before I understood what it meant -- it's like a UPS sign -- and in fact, I've seen a few UPS trucks in Japan, with this logo (in gold) next to theirs. (They must have some international arrangement.) Yamato's mission is 'takkyubin' which means express mail -- if you're really familiar with Miyazaki's Kiki you'll know its original title is "Majo No Takkyubin," IE 'Express Mail of the Witch'... and check that Yamato URL -- it means 'black cat' yamato (hence Kiki's cat Jiji). Yamato is the ancient name for Japan; somewhere I read it means Land of Great Harmony, but in my world it's the name of battleships, both real and anime. Other sections of this site: Weblog-Home - More Words - Links - Misc - Contact