The Engrish of JR Hokkaido

I spent 15 minutes waiting around at Ishikari-Futomi station, and there is not much to do there late at night. I read some posters, and noticed that the English translations were not very good. Which is somewhat surprising for a big company like JR Hokkaido.

From top to bottom the English reads:

"Be aware of a train coming in, going out, or passing through. Watch your step so as not to fall from the platform."

"Wait a train behind the Braille blocks or the white lines."

"It is danger to walk on the platform edge. Walk behind the Braille blocks or the white lines."

"When you drop something onto the tracks, contact our station staff or train crew."

"Be aware of the gap between the train and the platform while getting on and off the train."

"Be careful walking on the platform while listening to music or using a mobile phone."

My Japanese friend suggested that: "Maybe these are written with the goal of having English that Japanese people find easy to understand?" I suggested that Japanese passengers could just read the Japanese text instead.