I saw a nostalgic sign in South Korea. It was a symbolic sign used for a hot spring in Japan. Although it was used quite often in the past, this sign is rarely used now and can be seen only on some maps in recent years. Interestingly enough, I saw this sign quite often in South Korea.

According to our guide, many years ago hotels did not have a bath and hotel owners built a bath-house adjoining the hotel and used this sign. Nowadays, all hotels have a bath but still use this sign for a hotel itself. It, however, is used for a hotel for couples. I remember that this sign was often used by the same type of hotels in Japan in the past. The sign was called “Sakasa Kurage”or ”Up-side-down Jellyfish” and was a symbol of a love hotel. In South Korea, this sign is used for all three, i.e. a bath-house, a hotel and a love hotel. For those who do not understand the Hangul, identifying the facility with this sign is quite difficult.

When I visited New Zealand, I found this sign in Rotorua. This sign created in Japan is now used globally.