Noren is written 暖簾, and the two kanji mean "warm" and "bamboo screen" respectively.
I think of noren as a welcome sign placed in doorways. And on the first one it is written, from right to left and up to down, douzo ohairi kudasai - please come in.
Sometimes on the noren it is written what you will find inside that shop or restaurant - like, from right to left, うどん udon, yummy Japanese noodles.
Maybe (o)nigiri, the rice balls? And many noren are in aizome - the famous Japanese blue, or indigo.
Maneki-neki, the welcoming/lucky cat, and in Japanese tradition seeing a tiger 虎 tora in your dream means that a new power is coming your way:
The statue of a Japanese raccoon dog, called tanuki, having its important role in the Japanese folklore:
Tanuki representations appear so often everywhere in Japan.
心 shin/kokoro means heart, mind.
Hana no ren may be water lily, 睡蓮 suiren. 花 hana means flower.
Correction: I was wondering whether it is an onigiri shop in one photo above, it is a sushi restaurant indeed. I have received the explanation:
ReplyDelete"にぎりずし=すし=にぎり, です。"
Thank you for answering the question, Masako-san!