In message , at
21:10:07 on Fri, 9 May 2008, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
I've never been to Japan, but do they not transliterate the station
names into the Roman alphabet?

Nowadays, in some places at least. When I was in Osaka 25 years ago
almost nothing (let alone things like railway station names etc) were
transliterated. It was virtually impossible to do anything without a
local guide.
--
Roland Perry