If possible . . .
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 9:48AM
Aonghas Crowe in Japanese Language, Living in Japan, No smoking in Japan, Off Beat, kinen, meaning of narubeku, no smoking in Japanese restaurants, refrain from smoking in Japanese, smoking section, なるべく, 禁煙

   Japanese politeness and reserve is taken to a new level in this NO SMOKING sign which has the rider narubeku (なるべく, "if at all possible") attached. It's a very subtle way to appeal to the reasonableness of smokers to refrain from lighting up, something that is much more effective than admonishing in that often snooty tone, "Go-enryo onegaishimasu" (ご遠慮願います, "You are requested to refrain from . . . ").

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