There’s a platz for us…

There’s a platz for us…

Uncategorized

norman lebrecht

March 18, 2014

This is Tokyo, music city (photo courtesy of the touring Gewandhaus orchestra).

karajan platz

Comments

  • sdReader says:

    And there are seven gardens on the adjacent roofs, including Suntory Hall’s. At least one Slipped Disc reader used to take care of them!

  • Simon S. says:

    A missed opportunity for the Japanese to demonstrate they dominate German spelling rules better than Germans. Correct would be “Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz” with three hyphens.

    But, as most Germans fail to comply with this, too, this might be a typically Japanese sign of respect: “We don’t want to shame you by showing off that we’re better than you are in your own matters.” 😉

    • RalphW says:

      “(…) with this, too, this(…)” is also incorrect.

      • Simon S. says:

        I’ve never claimed my English to be perfect. I’m not a native speaker

        • robcat2075 says:

          I think the trailing hyphen that you’d have after the “von” would be graphically awkward.

          Herbert-von-

          Karajan-Platz

          But I’m wondering about separating the “von” from the “Karajan”, I think a better treatment could have been

          Herbert

          von Karajan Platz

          or

          Herbert

          von Karajan

          Platz

          I’ll also note that the kerning of the letters in Karajan could be drastically improved from what we have there so it doesn’t read like “Kam jan”

          It’s as if those Japanese sign makers have not made a thorough study of Western fonts and typography practices!

        • Your English puts many native speakers to shame.

  • One could always get a little tin of red paint and paint in the hyphens. That would correct the grammatical error.

    It was very clear Simon S that English is not your first language, but as I don’t speak German like a native (but do speak it reasonably well) I can’t criticise you here. (After-all hubby was extremely cross with me when I described him as “frigid” rather than”cold” – the worst thing I knew all about that particular pitfall and still made the mistake!)

  • cabbagejuice says:

    I might be out of it, but what are the ARK Hills? Also, Plaza would be a better translation of Platz, just sayin’…

    • Zenaida says:

      The ARK Hills is a uptown area, home to Suntory Hall, the ANA hotel, etc. in the Akasaka area, just around the corner from the Hotel Okura. This place (and its name) has been there for years, nothing new.

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